These Wings That Ache
by the Zoshi
Summary: Epilogue: The story ends...The story begins again. COMPLETED 9 12 2005 [AU Kingdom Hearts story. OC who lost her world point of View]
1. Prologue

Something crazy happened, and my chapter 12 got also loaded into the chapter 1 slot. Not good. Anyways, for anyone who missed, or misses, it. here's the prologue....

Prologue

Sasha was by all means a normal girl. She lived in the world of Arithria, a large and pleasant strip of land surrounded on one side by raging sea and on the other by towering mountains. Her home was located in the middle of the valley-beach, but she lived near the edge, where the mountains, valley, and sea all met. See, she was attending one of the mandatory schools of artistry, which dealt with the art of fighting, art of defense, art of magic, and the art of using your body to deal drastically vicious moves of damage, also knows as the martial arts.

This school that she attended was called "Talon". It was a large, menacing building with twisting spires and deep dungeons, and was surrounded by forests and swamps full of the kind of creatures that you would find living around a dark and menacing tower. There weren't many students, but those who were there were exceptionally good at everything that they could be good at, including tea serving and crocheting.

Now, a little about Sasha. Sasha was a typical 15 year old Arithrian. She had light tan skin and sparkling, honey colored eyes. Her hair hung down to mid-back, and was a very deep auburn, with the red natural highlights only showing up when the light hit them just right. She stood just shy of 5'3", and looked a little younger than her fifteen years. Also, she had brilliant, black and silver feathered wings, a kind that hadn't been seen in ages on Arithria. They glittered and shone and when she got very angry sparkled with the lightning power that was inherent to her.

Today she woke up, taking a long time about since she stayed up late the night before, and blinked her eyes sleepily. Her alarm clock hadn't gone off, which meant that today must be a free day. With a sigh she got out of bed and started picking out her clothes. A pair of black cargo pants... sure; what kind of shirt? She pushed around the hangars, a little viciously, knowing that there was a reason for her to get up but not quite remembering what it was. She finally pulled out a dark blue baby-doll t-shirt. She headed to the bathroom to change, then stopped with a groan.

The falls! Now she remembered. There weren't any classes today because of the training session at the falls. She didn't want to miss that, and she quickly glanced around her room to find her clock. 7:30. Good, she had a half hour before she had to be at the falls. Quickly grabbing her red and black two-piece swimsuit, she dashed into the bathroom.

A half hour later she was at the falls, cargo pants and shirt over her swimsuit, her self-designed battle-axe strapped to her back. She fluttered her wings and looked up at the falls. Their true name was "Azure Depths", which suited their sudden dipping at the bottom of the falls that caused so much trouble with the newbies.

Sasha was not a newbie, though. She had braved the waters more times than she could count, and came out victor each time. She made her way to the top of the falls, climbing up the slippery walls with practiced grace. She could have flown up, but she preferred the climb, it gave her the chance to work out her muscles and improve her balance. Reaching the top, she hopped over and turned to look for the Master.

He stood in the water, facing the edge of the falls. Anyone else would have been swept away by the current, over the edge into the depths below, but Master was different. He controlled the element of water, and it flowed smoothly and quietly around him, welcoming his presence. Sasha relaxed into a loose ready-stance, her eyes flickering over the rest of the students lined up on the shore. Master stood there for a long moment, waiting, his eyes closed in thought. Suddenly, his wings drooped, his head lowered, and the cadets standing around gave a collective gasp as they watched the water of the falls rush forward and trickle away, the river bed drying up, the loud roar silencing.

"This is the end..." Master's voice could barely be heard, and maybe they sensed it more than heard it. As soon as he spoke, he broke apart, broke into millions of tiny pieces that floated in the air, then shot away, away, into the sky and the earth. Sasha took a step away from the riverbed, sensing something. She didn't like this; this was definitely not a training exercise. Others had rushed forward to where Master had stood, searching frantically for any sign of him.

Suddenly they screamed, and Sasha gasped to see darkness growing around them. Little creatures flowed out of the ground, their eyes glowing bright yellow. They leapt and lunged at the cadets, who took out their weapons, swinging them with little effect at these creatures of darkness. Sasha was about to rush forward, until she realized that the weapons were having no effect. It was as if the little creatures were made of nothing but shadow; the weapons passed through them without sound.

One of the little creatures turned and saw her, and dashed forward, chattering incoherently. Sasha, her mind slowed from shock, barely managed to dodge its body. She fell to the side, but its claws caught her arm slightly, leaving three shallow streaks of red. Instantly, cold gripped that part of her arm, and she whimpered slightly as she fell to the ground. Rolling away, she steadied her mind and without looking took off into the air. In less than a few seconds she was hovering ten feet in the air, the little creature that had attacked her jumping up and down in an effort to reach her.

She took the moments respite to look around, and wished she hadn't. The little creatures were already overtaking many cadets, and more than one had entirely disappeared. Sasha had half a notion to fly to Talon for help, but the idea quickly vanished when she looked in its direction. The towers were toppling, the gates were melting, and darkness was consuming it. In fact, darkness was consuming the entire land and sea. As far as she looked, darkness lay.

By the time she turned back to the battle site, darkness was crawling over the ground and streaking into the air. She took off halfheartedly, beating her wings furiously in an effort to get away. Then something touched her, and she was falling. Falling? No, she was rising. Or both. Or none, maybe. One thing was certain.

Darkness overcame her.


	2. Chapter 1: Welcome to Limbo

Disclaimer: Blah blah, don't own nothing. Just having a little fun with characters…

Please R&R. Flame flame flame! Anything. Its all good…

Chapter 1

            It was dark. Which wasn't much of a surprise, mind you. It had been dark for a very long time. This dark, this was different. There was a feeling to it, a sort of sensation that couldn't quite be placed.

            Sasha groaned, putting her hands to her aching head and opening her eyes a crack. Dark. As usual. She wasn't surprised, but maybe a little disappointed. This wasn't the dark she liked. The dark she liked was nice and dark, plain dark with no feelings whatsoever. This dark was oozing feeling, it was basking in feeling's wonderful glow and eating it with a gold spoon. 

            She closed her eyes again and leaned back against the wall, growling softly and wishing the nightmare might end. Of course, she knew it wouldn't. It had been going on longer than a nightmare might be expected to. Just as she was fading away into sweet nothingness a sound reached her ears. She hissed as a boot jabbed her sharply in the side.

            "Wake up already, you useless bird." She opened her eyes quickly at the words; she hadn't realized that someone else was here too.

            Of course, the second she saw him, her hopes dropped a little. He didn't look friendly, he didn't look nice. No, he looked just about the opposite, and the fact that his turquoise eyes held the fire of softly burning insanity did nothing to quench the fear that was suddenly rising from her stomach and into her throat. His lips twisted in a sneer as he looked down at her, and she quivered slightly at his gaze.

            "Finally. Thought you were going to fade away like the rest of the idiots that made it here." He stood there looking at her shrink away from him. His gaze hardened. "Get up."

            Sasha, not one used to taking orders, almost balked, but seeing the look in his eyes she got up awkwardly. He was good many inches taller then her, and she stood up taller, trying not to be any more intimidated by him. Of course, this didn't work, and she shrank again under his scrutinizing gaze.

            "A girl. I've waited all these years and they send me a girl. Wonderful." The man sighed and shook his head, his silver hair fluttering about gently. Sasha stood taller, a little angered by the fact that he said 'girl' with that distasteful tone, like she was something that came in from the trash.

            "I am not a 'girl'. Well, I am. But I'm also a warrior." Sasha stood proudly, glaring steadfastly into his eyes. The man was silent for a second, then burst out laughing.

            "You?! A warrior?!" He managed to choke out between laughs. Sasha glared at him all the more. So she didn't look like much, and she wasn't as impressive as the others, but she knew what she had to know, dammit! She wasn't a pushover!

            With practiced ease she slid her axe out of its holder and in less time than it took her to think she had the spear tip between the double blades pointing at the man's throat.

            "Don't laugh." She growled. She had lost her home, her friends, been taken into darkness, and now she was being laughed at. There was no way that she was going to take any of this lying down.

            The man stopped laughing, but it was a hard fight against the chuckles that were still rising in his throat and the smile that was tugging at his lips. Calmly, he raised his hand and pushed away the axe. Sasha glared at him, pulled her axe into a fighting stance, and refused to back down. Her wings fluttered angrily, sending tiny electric sparks into the air each time two feathers rubbed together.

            The man gazed at her for a bit, then suddenly moved. Or maybe he didn't, she couldn't be sure. It didn't matter, because the next second her axe was on the ground and her back was to the wall, her hands scrabbling defiantly against the blade whose flat side was pushing painfully against her throat. The man looked down at her, an unfamiliar look in his eyes, and she growled up at him, furiously beating her wings in an effort to do something, anything.

            "Not ready, not yet…" The looked at her thoughtfully, then suddenly released her, stepping back and turning around to think. "But maybe…"

            Sasha collapsed to the floor, coughing. She was not liking this, not one bit. Her world was gone, everything she knew was turned upside down, and now she was stuck in this dark place with a freaking psycho who'd probably end up killing her. She glared up at him again, even though she knew he couldn't see her, and that's when she saw it. 

            One black-feathered wing was folded against the man's right shoulder. Its feathers glistened black and purple as it moved gently, fluttering as the man thought. Sasha reached out for her axe, sliding it back into its holder as she stood up. There was no use fighting, she was certain that she wouldn't be able so much as to move before he struck her. She stared at the wing, trying to figure out what kind it was. The people in her world had all sorts of wings, wings that were reminiscent of eagles, of gulls, of sparrows. Her own wings were shaped like those of a raven, a fact she had always liked. The man's wing, however, didn't seem to have the shape of any bird she had ever known. It looked more twisted, demonic… sort of, evil, almost.

            She sighed and pulled her gaze away from it, turning instead to look at her surroundings. The man was lost in thought, and wasn't paying attention to her anymore, so she started walking around a little. There seemed to be some source of light, some dim glow that came from around them. There were walls, but there weren't. Sasha got a little confused as she looked around. Things appeared, but when she looked back they were gone. Then something new would pop up out of nowhere and more often than not scare the crap out of her.

            "What is this place?" She asked suddenly, forgetting just who she was stuck here with. The man turned his head to give her an irritated look.

            "Limbo." He said, and then went back to his thoughtful silence. Sasha watched him warily for a second, and then sat down with a sigh. Her wings fluttered anxiously as she struggled with her thoughts. Yes, her world was gone. She understood that, the darkness hadn't seemed too friendly and she didn't doubt the fact that her world no longer existed. Why, then, was she here? Why had she survived? The man had mentioned others, others who faded away. Maybe this was a crossroads for those who had escaped the darkness… or maybe a crossroads for those that were absorbed by it. Either way, it was a frightening thought. And what about the guy? She thought, looking over at him. Was he like her, stuck here because his world faded away and left him behind?

            Just then he turned to look at her, and she looked away quickly, trying not to be caught looking at him. He stepped forward, grabbed one of her wings in her hands. She flinched, expecting his touch to be harsh, but he gently lifted it, looking at it thoughtfully.

            "Where do you come from?" He asked, letting go of her wing. She fluttered it to straighten out the feathers, folded both wings tight against her back.

            "Arithria." She said, turning to face him. There was no way she wanted to be caught with her back to him. 

            "Hm." He looked as if he actually knew where that was. Standing up, he got that thoughtful look in his eyes again, that look that seemed to diminish the flames of insanity. He walked away again, thinking whatever thoughts he thought.

            Sasha was tired. She backed herself to a wall, wherever it was, and closed her eyes. She was just freaking tired.

End Chapter 1. Wheeee. Go ahead, review. Gimme your best shot. Eventually this will get funnier, wackier, crazier. Yes, Sasha is gonna meet a lotta people, and none of it is good. I get a little tired of people getting stuck in fics and it turning out grand for them. Sasha's not gonna have that kind of luck.

Laterz


	3. Traverse Town

Once again, I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Final Fantasy. I'm just having a little fun with their creations. *maniacal laugh*

Chapter 2

          It was a while later. Sasha had tried to figure out the passage of time, but with no watch or sun it was pretty much impossible. She had learned that the man's name was Sephiroth. He was moody and decisive, plagued by sudden outbursts of insanity. Whenever he was bored and had nothing else to do he'd start to harass her or say she needed to 'train' and then proceed to beat the crap out of her with that manic gleam in his eyes. She had quickly learned how to act at what times, and it kept her out of trouble most of the time. Unfortunately, he was the most unpredictable person she had ever met, and there were times that no matter what how she watched, she wouldn't be able to see what was coming. 

          There came the day when she finally learned about him and what exactly he was doing in Limbo. It turned out he had died, and then came back, or was born and then died, and something about aliens or some things called 'Cetra'. Sasha got bored halfway through the explanation and just nodded her head at odd intervals to keep him talking. Then came a moment that she almost missed.

          "What?" She said quickly, interrupting Sephiroth. He shot her a dirty look for interrupting him and continued.

          "I said, with the help of the Heartless, I'll finally be able to achieve what I always wanted." He grinned ferally. "Only this time, it will be on a much grander scale."

          "What d'ya mean, grander scale?" Sasha was trying to dredge up whatever bits of information had sunk into her brain in the past few hours.

          "The Heartless will envelop all the worlds. They will be out there, fighting and conquering until they own everything. I, I will be here, training and honing my skills. And when the time comes, yes, when the time comes, I will go out and defeat them! Conquer them as they conquered the worlds!"

          Sasha edged away from him nervously as the flames of insanity grew brighter.

           "I will own the worlds! I will control what happens to them! I will be their master; they will be my slaves! I will become a god!" Sephiroth said, spreading his arms wide over his head as his feral grin turned maniacal.

          "And maybe you'll actually become sane!" Sasha said, smiling brightly. 

          Stupid!, she hissed at herself silently as Sephiroth turned to her sharply, his eyes narrowing in vicious anger. She tried to back away quickly when she heard his growl, but his strides were much longer than hers and a wall had suddenly sprung up where before there was nothing. Sephiroth caught her tightly by the throat, making her sputter and choke, and lowered his head to look her straight in the eyes. 

          "You…" he murmured, looking down deep into her eyes, suddenly becoming nice and sweet, "You will help me… you will, won't you?"

          Sasha nodded as vigorously as she could. She didn't want to help him, but she didn't want to die either. So she'd be indulging his lunatic ravings, that wouldn't be so bad, would it? Sephiroth released her, and she fell back, her wings fluttering and shuddering as she gasped, regaining her breath.

          "Good." Sephiroth started off, all business again. He stood next to her battle-axe, which she had left by another wall, and held his hand out over it. A glow emanated from his hand and touched the axe. The axe glowed pale blue for a moment, then the glow faded. "Now, you will be able to fight the Heartless with this weapon."

          "Aren't we supposed to be friends with them?" Sasha said, stepping up, gingerly rubbing her neck. He just gave her a look and continued speaking.

          "You will go to the worlds. Once there, you will proceed to find the 'Keybearer'." He pulled a stone out from his pocket, and with a quiet word it turned into an amulet. "Wear this, it will allow you to travel between Limbo and the other worlds. You will have to return here each time you want to travel to another world."

          "Who's this 'keybearer'?" Sasha asked, taking the amulet and slipping it around her neck.

          "This person holds the key to lock the worlds' hearts. This person is also the only thing that can stop the Heartless." Sephiroth picked up her axe and looked it over, but Sasha quickly pulled it out of his grasp and held it close, inspecting it herself. "The first place you'll be sent to is called Traverse Town. Once there, go to the Third District. There is a heartless there waiting for you. Once you defeat it, you'll get munny. Use that to equip yourself and get whatever you need. Then search the place for the Keybearer."

          "'kay…" Sasha muttered, "Um, what am I supposed to do when I find this… 'keybearer'?" Sasha asked, as the stone began to glow brightly around her neck. Sephiroth shrugged.

          "Kill him."

          The next moment Sasha found herself standing in front of a large building with the words "Accessory Shop" blazing in neon above the door. She was nearly blinded by the sharp contrast of Limbo's near-darkness and the signs bright lights, and still stunned by Sephiroth's casual words. Kill? She didn't kill. She helped, protected, yes, but kill? A living, thinking person?

          She was standing there, thinking to herself, when a yellow streak suddenly appeared in the corner of her eye and a big yellow hound-like dog crashed into her legs and knocked her onto her back, then took off again.

          Sasha lay there for a second, stunned, then started to push herself up off the ground. 

          "Hey, dog, wait up!" 

          Sasha was knocked back down again as someone tripped over her and landed hard on her. She stared at the sky angrily, and then looked to see who exactly it was. Blue eyes looked at her sheepishly from under spiky brown bangs, and she realized that it was a young boy who had tripped over her.

          "Uh, er… sorry about that." He got off her quickly, standing up and offering her a hand.

          She took it and pulled herself up, brushing off her pants and fluttering her wings to rearrange the feathers.

          "Its okay. My name's Sasha." She said friendlily, holding out her hand. The boy took a moment to respond, his eyes on her wings.

          "Uh… I'm Sora. Nice to meet you." He shook her hand energetically, still looking at her wings. He suddenly realized he was staring, and looked away quickly. She laughed.

          "Sasha, did you see a dog run by here?" Sora asked, looking at her face instead of her wings this time.

          "Yeah, the stupid thing knocked me over." She said, then pointed in the direction it had gone. "It went that way."

          "Thanks!" Sora said, starting off, then looked back at her, "Maybe we'll see each other again, huh? Nice meeting ya!" 

          Sora rushed off in the direction that the dog had gone, and Sasha looked after him for a moment. Must be another person who lost their world, she decided. She turned back to look around, and decided to walk into the Accessory Shop and see if anyone in there knew where Third District was.

          Inside there was a gruff looking older man, smoking a cigarette and looking through a magazine. She could just make out the words "Gummi Accessories" on the front before he put it down.

          "Hey there. What can I help ya with?" The man said, looking her over. His gaze paused, as it did the boy's, on her wings, but he looked her in the eyes while waiting for the answer.

          "Um, I was wondering if you could possibly tell me where the Third District is?" Sasha asked a little nervously. She felt out of place, with her wings and all. The only other person who had feathers was Sephiroth, and look at him. 

          "Sure can, but I warn ya, the entire place is crawling with Heartless," he said, glancing at the battle axe she had hanging at her side, " But you look pretty well-prepared. Now, this here's the First District. Ya gotta go all the way through the Second district before you get to the Third District, obviously. Just look for them big doors, they're the passages to the next district, ok?"

          "Okay. Thanks much, Mister," she said happily. This wasn't that difficult.

          "Argh, don't call me that, makes me sound old. Just call me Cid. If ya ever need anything, don't be afraid to ask," he said. 

          "Thanks… Cid," Sasha grinned, then headed back out the door. 

This was nice. These people were nice. This was a nice place, she thought. Then she stepped through the door to the Second District and was nearly smothered by a cloud of black with dozens of pairs of bright yellow eyes.

"AHHHH!!" 

Sasha wasn't one to freak out. Sasha wasn't one to explode. Being surrounded by dozens of little black bodies with cold claws and freaky eyes, though, was not something she had ever been prepared to face. She whipped out her axe and started swinging for all she was worth. Multitudes of tiny scratches appeared on her arms as the Heartless were pushed away from her by the singing blade. Her skin was going numb, cold, and she gritted her teeth against it. She had managed to knock back a rather large amount of the Heartless, and swinging her axe out of the way, she thrust her hand forward and shot out a blast of fire, incinerating the Heartless that had escaped from her blade.

She took a moment to catch her breath and curse the Heartless, then continued. Instead of taking the long way and walking around to the stairs, she hopped the top level to the bottom one and ran across the courtyard, hoping that other Heartless wouldn't appear. Alas, they did; right in front of her, in fact.

She fell heavily on her butt, and looked up, dazed, at the big belly of a type of Heartless she had never seen before. There was a chattering behind her, and she snapped back to attention, jumping up and out of the way as the big Heartless charged forward, intending to stomp her. She dodged to the side and attacked it from behind, knocking it forward onto another little Heartless that squeaked as it was crushed out of existence. Without looking back, she jumped over the line of little Heartless that was advancing on her and took off running for the other end. She noticed a black glow beginning, and thought that maybe it was a sign that a Heartless would appear. She jumped up and flapped her wings, and sure enough, another big, fat Heartless appeared at the spot. Flapping her wings steadily, she flew around a corner at the end of the courtyard and down a long narrow hallway, Heartless appearing almost everywhere. Finally, she saw the large double doors, and without pausing for breath she landed and pushed through them, and entered the Third District.

She leaned back against the heavy doors, taking a moment to catch her breath. This was crazy. She wanted to go home, just to get away from this stupid place. This place was definitely not nice! She was raging through her thoughts, and it took her a few seconds to notice the heavy breathing, the hot and moist breath that was blowing against her face. She looked up cautiously, into the face of an evil looking canine. It stood taller than her, the top of her head just reaching its chin. It was entirely black, with glowing red eyes and red stripes down its back. Two bat-like wings jutted sharply, irregularly out of its back, and its tail was long, thin, serpentine, with a sharp point on the end. Its mouth was half open, its silver-white teeth glistening in the half-light of the few electric lamps. It growled softly.

_I've been waiting for you._

Sasha blinked, and it took her a moment before she realized that it was the dog that was talking to her. 

_Come, girl. Let us dance._

With those words it lunged forward, and she barely managed to dodge to the left. Its teeth grazed her right wing, and pulled both wings closed with an audible snap. Her actions had been so energetic that the bones had hit against one another as the wings closed. She rolled right under the dog as it turned to try to face her, and jumped up on the other side. She brought her axe up, but the dog dodged, and the blade only cut a few hairs.

"Shit!" she hissed, and tried to jump out of the way of the dogs lunging jaws. 

The dog was very agile for a creature its size, and managed to dive and grab her by her leg. It spun around and tossed her over the little balcony, and she landed with a hard thump on the ground below. The dog growled as it jumped down after her, and she shakily rolled away from its sharp claws. She sprang up, her wings spread wide and fluttering to help her balance, and faced the dog again. 

Her leg hurt badly, the numbness spreading from her ankle to her knee, and she had a hard time standing. The next moment the dog attacked, and she jumped up with her good leg, beating her wings rapidly to get into the air. The dog rebounded; it turned to face her and she dove down, this time slicing across its face. It howled in pain, then turned after her, one eye gushing what seemed to be an oily substance, the other glowing a brighter red than before. It pulled back its head, then thrust it at her, and icy winds assailed her.   
          She frantically tried to stay in the air, but her feathers iced over and she plummeted down. She managed to twist, and landed a bit better than the first time. Now, though, she was getting mad. Electricity began dancing overt the frozen feathers, and she pointed the axe at the dog. The two stared each other down, then the dog charged with a roar. She flung her axe at it, and it turned over and over in the air. One of the blades connected with the dog's head, embedding itself deep in the side of its face. The dog continued forward, oily blood pouring out of its jaws, eye gleaming madly. Sasha raised her hands to the heavens, electricity dancing across her frame. She looked up, her wings spread, the glow brightening to almost white, then disappeared.

The dog's jaws snapped shut with a loud crack just where she had been standing. It pulled back, looking around in a confused sort of way. Whimpering a little, it blinked oily blood out of its good eye and tried to find her. Its wings twitched suddenly as it detected a strange energy. Where did it come from? Its head swung left and right, trying to detect it. What was that?! It stopped turning its head and gazed ahead. Up? It thought, and then turned its head skyward, just in time to meet the brilliant blue-white flash of descending lightning.

Sasha breathed a heavy sigh of relief, closing the doors that led from the Third District into the First. That was one hell of a fight, but she got her munny. There was a lot, over twenty thousand by her count. That made her very, very rich, she thought as she limped her way across the courtyard of First District and towards a sign that said "Item Shop". Just as she reached the middle she noticed a young man standing by the stairs, inspecting an interesting looking blade. She stopped for a moment, looking at him and his weapon, until he glanced up at her. She looked away hurriedly and continued onward, her wings fluttering from pain every other step. She felt the man's gaze follow her all the way to the Item Shop. She heaved a sigh as she entered the shop, almost running into a young lady in a pink dress.

"Oh, sorry." Sasha stepped aside quickly to keep from running into her.

"Its all right, its my fault. Too much of a hurry." The lady laughed as she hurried past and walked out the door.

"So, you wanna buy something?" 

Sasha turned to see three young ducklings sitting in different areas of the room. At first she was a little shocked at seeing them, but it was over quickly. She limped up to the counter.

"Yeah, lets see, I'll take that…"

A half hour later she had the things she needed, and she by the steps, arranging everything. Not only had she bought potions, ethers, and elixirs, she had gotten some weapon enhancers, and Cid had sold her some good accessories, and also this backpack, that could hold as many things as you wanted to put into it, but would never change size.

Sasha strapped on the backpack, and stood up, testing her newly healed leg. She had only needed one potion to heal the minor wounds, but her leg had needed two. She straightened up headed to a dark corner of an alley, where she could use the amulet to beam back to Limbo. She sighed tiredly and touched the stone. In a flash she was gone.

We love insane Sephy! Yes we do! YES WE DO!!! ::pinching insane Sephy's cheeks::

Sephy: Stop! Leave me alone! ::tries to get away, trips over an innocent looking dog::

Sephy: STUPID DOG!!

Muahahahaaa! R&R please. Yes, there will be much meeting and much more funniness. And craziness. There's Insane Sephy, how could there NOT be craziness?!?!


	4. Traverse Town 2

Woot. I is back. Like anyone cares. Oh wells, as usual, Kingdom Hearts is not mine. I just borrow the people. I'd say something wittier but I'm tired. Blah.

Chapter 3

          Ten seconds in Limbo and she knew she was in trouble.

          "That… was quick," The words sounded slightly like a question, but the look in Sephiroth's eyes made her sure that he knew quite exactly why she was back so soon.

          "Guess it was…"Sasha said shortly, although his look was making her wings tremble slightly.

          "So, no-no, don't tell me, let me guess, you forgot?" Sephiroth narrowed his eyes at her.

          "Forgot…? Aw, dammit!" Sasha exclaimed sarcastically, "You know, I don't know how I could! I mean, between getting nearly swallowed by a mass of heartless and having my leg bit off by a rabid shadow dog? To forget to look for the keybearer, really, how STUPID am I?!" 

          Stupid enough to say something as sarcastic as that to someone who was seething as much as Sephiroth was, Sasha thought. Before Sephiroth could form that anger into words, or worse, movements, Sasha turned around and dashed off, gripping the stone tightly.

          "Be back in a flash!" She flashed away again, and appeared in the middle of the Second District's Courtyard. "Shit!"

          Once again heartless started flowing from everywhere. Swinging her axe out, Sasha began to cut swaths through the sea of black. There were more than before, flowing and growing around her crazily, chittering in their strange language.

          "Where in hell are they coming from?!" Sasha exclaimed through gritted teeth as her blade sliced two small heartless into nothingness. "And why so many?"

          In a slight break, she managed to get a pretty good look around her and jumped backward onto one of the walkways on the sides of the courtyard. Just then a little, red heartless flew by, scarecrow-stick legs dangling down from its little jacket. It wore a little straw-like hat, and Sasha stared at it, mystified, as it did a little sparkly dance. It took her until the fireball was being shot at her to realize what was happening.

          "AHHHH!" She dodged to the side, then turned to try to find the little heartless. Instead of the red one, she found and identical one, only wearing a little jacket of blue. 

          "Blue… blue… what would blue be?" Sasha said, realizing that she was probably being very stupid. The blue one danced now, and she dodged the blast of ice as it blew past her. "Ah, ice. Okay."

          She dodged an attack from one of the little heartless that had appeared, and took off into the air. From her high perch on the wind, she managed to see where the blue and red heartless were fluttering about. They saw her at the same time, and dashed forward a little, stopping only to dance around and release their magic. Sasha dodged the attacks, and realizing it took them some time to do the dance, she dove in the next time they began and slashed viciously. They needed more hits than the regular blacks, but in another dive she finished them off. 

          Looking around again, she noticed that most of the heartless on the ground had disappeared, and the rest were walking around as if looking for something. Taking advantage of the enemy's sudden disinterest in her, Sasha flew over to a roof and landed. She sat for a little bit, then threw herself back with a cry of agitation.

          "Kill? Why the hell do **I** have to do it?!" she muttered angrily. "I can't kill people… Now, if he were a heartless, or at least something evil, well then, I have no choice… But he's fighting the heartless too… But if I don't, Sephiroth will kill _me_. I don't want me to die. Grrrr… what do I do?"

          She looked up at the sky, a sky so familiar yet so different from her own. There seemed to be less stars in this one, a lot less. She sighed.

          "Can't anyone give me a sign?"

          There was a flash in the stars, and suddenly the area next to her exploded into flames. She jumped up in terror just in time to have the next shot miss her. 

          "What the-" She was cut short by another blast nearly singeing her wings, and took off running across the roofs. The fireballs dogged her all the way, until she crashed up against a wall.

          "Ow, damn!" She glanced around, and noticed an opening above her. Reaching up she pulled herself in and turned around to see what it was that was following her.

          Greeting her sight was about two-dozen little red coated heartless. All giving her very mean looks.

          "Heh…heh… um, sorry?" She managed to fall back into the darkness just as the fireballs blasted around the opening.

          A few seconds later, she crashed onto her back, the fall wrenching her wings and knocking the breath out of her. The little flap that led to the dark passage slamming closed gently. With a groan she pulled herself up and looked around. 

          She was on a little balcony overlooking the Third District's courtyard. To her right on ground level was the entrance to the First district, to her left the entrance from the Second district. She put her hands on the balcony and heaved herself over, halfway down realizing she should have stretched her wings before doing something like that. As it was, the wrenched muscles in her wings decided to take a break and she landed heavily on all fours on the ground below.

          "I'll kill myself one day…" Sasha muttered, standing up slowly and stretching her wings gingerly. 

          "See, I always thought wings were for flying…" 

          With a jump, Sasha looked around for danger, and saw Sora standing off to the side, a big grin on his face.

          "Oh, shut up," She glared at him, and then realized there were more people there. A short duck was standing to the left of Sora, and a tall dog to the right.

          "I'm kidding. Let me guess, you had a run in with the heartless too, didn't you?" Sora asked.

          "Yeah. And those stupid ones with the red jackets tried to fry me." Sasha ran her fingers through one wing's feathers, straightening them out.

          "Those are annoying…" Sora seemed to go nervous for a second, then continued, "Um, Sasha?"

          "Yeah?" Sasha began on the other wing.

          "Did you happen to see any other kids, a girl and a guy, anywhere?" Sora's voice got a little hopeful.

          "Hmmmm," Sasha paused to think, "No, not around here. But I can keep an eye out for them. What're their names?"

          "The girl's name is Kairi, and the guy is Riku," Sora looked a little defeated.

          "Don't worry Sora, if I see them I'll be sure to tell you, or I'll try to bring them back." Sasha smiled at him. "I'm sure you'll find them."

          At that moment something small and dark barreled towards them, followed by more.

          "Aw, damn, heartless!" Sasha whipped out her axe, and out of the corner of her eye saw the others get ready to fight. 

          There was a mix of heartless, from the tiny black ones to ones that had helmets and claws. There were a few of the big fat ones who tried knocking everyone over. 

          It wasn't until the end of the battle that Sasha saw what Sora was fighting with: a giant key. She stopped suddenly, watched as Sora sliced apart the last heartless with the key. He noticed her gaze on him and turned to her.

          "What?" He seemed a little confused at her sudden stop. "Is something wrong?"

          "No…" Sasha said after a little pause, "Nothing wrong at all."

Questions, Comments, Flames, all welcome at Zoshitheconfused@yahoo.com


	5. Hollow Bastion

Thanks for the reviews! Glad you guys liked it. If at any point in the story it Does start sounding like a Mary Sue, tell me please. I don't want it to be. 

I'm hoping in following chapters to focus on Sephiroth just a bit more.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts. I just obsess over it. *obsess obsess* Muahaha! Er… yes…

Notes: First off, Sephiroth acts a tiny bit different. NOT MY FAULT! It's his idea, I swear. I think… Secondly, Hollow Bastion is a lot bigger in this story than in the game. Why? Because I believe that an all-powerful sorceress would have a much bigger place. So yeah. Plus, its fun. Third, NEW WORLD ALERT. Please, don't hate me. I made the world up. Just as I made up the whole summon-absorbing thing. (You'll know what I'm talking about when you get there.) The actual adventure in the world will happen next chapter; this one just has an intro.

Anyway, enjoy. Any questions can be sent to Zoshitheconfused@yahoo.com. 

Ah yes, WARNING: LONG CHAPTER ALERT! I don't know why, just kept writing and writing and writing…

Chapter 4

          "So. Did you find him?" Sephiroth kept his gaze level with hers.

          "No, I didn't _find _him, but I did find out that he was there. From what I heard, he's going to be traveling to the next worlds, to close the keyholes." Sasha's wings fluttered gently, then she settled them so they wouldn't give her away.

          "Hm." It was obvious that Sephiroth didn't quite believe her, but there seemed to be something else bothering him. "Oh well. Next time will be different. Now, there is something else you must do. There has been a summons sent to me, to go see Maleficent."

          Seeing the confused look in Sasha's eyes, Sephiroth explained before continuing.

          "Maleficent is a sorceress, and a very powerful one. She is closer to the darkness than any other being. Except maybe…" Those last few words were muttered, but he paused and shook his head. "That's not important, the important thing is that I myself cannot go. You will go in my stead."

          "What? Wait, why can't you go?" Sasha wasn't sure she wanted to meet with any sorceress, much less with one that was close to the darkness.

          "Must I go over my plan again? Please, don't tell me that your brain is so rotted that it cannot remember even the shortest of our conversations?" Sephiroth sighed. "Listen, and listen closely. If I leave Limbo, I put myself in danger. Do not worry, they know my plan, and they do not like it. They'll do anything to stop me. This is all a trap, a ploy to pull me out of hiding and into the worlds, where they can much easily destroy me."

          "So instead of you getting killed, you send me to get killed. Wonderful. Just what I always wanted to do; Die." Sasha crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. 

          "You will not die. Believe me, if anything, they will try to win you over. They will not kill you because they see great potential for darkness in you." Sephiroth's eyes grew dark. "And that is why you must be careful."

          "'Potential for darkness'?!" Her voice came out almost hysterical. "What the hell? Where do they get that from?"

          Sephiroth shrugged.

          "It doesn't matter. What matters is that you do not succumb to their traps. You must fight their attempts to win you. If you don't…" Sephiroth seemed hesitant to finish the sentence.

          "It'll be bad, won't it… if I lose…" Sasha's voice shook just a little. Sephiroth looked at her for a moment, then shook his head, his eyes going hard.

          "You won't lose. You can't." He turned away. "Rest now, when you get prepared you leave."

          "Where for?" Sasha asked, settling against the suddenly appearing wall.

          "Hollow Bastion."

          "Okay, wait, what do I do?" Sasha crossed her arms and looked quizzically at Sephiroth, who was currently sitting on the floor looking through the supplies she had gotten and muttering to himself.

          "This might help if… but then again, if she does that…" Sephiroth pulled out a bottle, looked at it closely, then put it back again.

          "A-hem… Once again, What do I do?" Sasha waited a second, then leaned over and pulled the bag away from him. Sephiroth gave her an icy glare, and she smiled shakily and backed away. "Please?"

          Sephiroth sighed.

          "You go to Hollow Bastion, find Maleficent, and find out what she wants. Its not that difficult." Sephiroth got up.

          "Well then, I'm going!" Sasha said, fitting the one strap of the backpack easily around her wings, and going to grab the stone.

          "Wait! Are you sure you have everything?" Sephiroth asked hurriedly.

          "Yes, I do." 

          "You remember what I told you about Hollow Bastion, right?"

          "Yes."

          "You remember, once you get there, only Maleficent can send you back?"

          "YES."

          "Now, watch your back, don't let anyone you don't know get behind you. Make sure you always know where you are-"

          "Yes, MOTHER." Sasha said exasperatedly, rolling her eyes. Sephiroth glared at her again, and she stepped back. "Heh, heh… I'll be going now."

          "Wait, one last thing." 

          Sasha stood uncertainly, watching suspiciously as Sephiroth put his hand in his pocket.          He noticed her suspicious look and sighed.

          "Really, I'm not going to throw anything at you." He pulled out what seemed to be a round piece of glass, clear, and about the size of a small lemon. "Take this with you."

          Sasha reached out and grabbed it uncertainly from his hand. 

          "It's materia, from my old world. There was a type of materia that would allow us to summon monsters, guardians, to fight for us. The materia I gave you still doesn't have a summon spirit attached to it. It, though, is capable of absorbing a monster and creating a new summon." Sephiroth looked at her closely to see if she understood.

          "Wait, so this thing can, if I wanted to, pull a monster into it?" Sasha looked at the material skeptically.

          "Yes. Believe me, it works." Sephiroth sighed, wondering why the person he was sent had to be so slow. "All you have to do is tell it what to absorb, and the magic will work on its own."

          "Cool… hey, if I told it to absorb you, would it do it?" Sasha grinned slyly.

          "Do I look like a monster?" Sephiroth gave her a look.

          "Are you sure you want me to answer that?" Sasha grinned, then backed off a few steps, just in case. Sephiroth glared at her.

          "Ha. Funny. Now get out of here." He turned away, his eyes focusing on something Sasha couldn't see. With a sigh, she touched the stone.

          "Hollow Bastion."

          When she felt the worlds stop whirling, she opened her eyes. The sight of water, tons of it, filled her sight. She gazed at it for a second, watching it flow from the basin under her up to the ridge far above and over the ridge, out to somewhere else. All sparkling and… rising.

          "No way…" She looked again, but it was still at it. Still defying the laws of physics and flowing up. "Okay, gonna stop now. Let's see where I am."

          Taking a look, she saw the platforms she vaguely remembered Sephiroth talking about. She'd have to go over them to the archway, and from there she'd be able to make it to the castle. Okay, piece of cake.

          She took off, hopping from one platform onto the other. She spared a glance down, looking at the light dancing on the water, and then continued on. Reaching a platform with a shallow pool in the center, she spent some time running around in it.

          "Gee, I forgot how much fun it is to have fun!" After all those stupid training sessions with Sephiroth and sleeping in deafening silence, the trickle of water and running through puddles was like heaven. "Okay, I guess I gotta go on. Let's see, where do I go now?"

          Looking around, she noticed another platform, identical to the others. The only difference was that it was tied down with thick vines that looked like the stuff that heartless were made of. Stepping closer, she saw it straining against the ropes, almost as if it wanted to go up. Only then she looked up and saw the other big platform above her.

          "Okay, Sasha, how the hell did you miss that?" She looked at it for a moment, then looked back down at the platform. "Let's just cut these here, and we'll be off."

          She reached back to pull her axe out of the hilt on her back, and felt her hand close around empty air.

          "What the…?"

*Meanwhile, back in Limbo…* 

          Sephiroth was pacing around, subconsciously steering around the random obstacles that would appear out of nowhere and trying not to think of the trouble the girl was probably getting into. He just hoped that she would remember what they talked about and try to stick to it. He turned again, started to walk when something glinted at him a few feet away. Curious, he walked closer, and upon finding the object let out a soft groan.

          "That girl is going to get herself killed…"

*Back at Hollow Bastion…* 

          "What?! NO!" Sasha dropped to her knees with a sob. "This cannot be happening! How stupid am I? Leaving my stupid axe in Limbo. How the hell am I going to fight? Wait, wait… take a breath, relax. You can out fly the heartless. And all you have to do is talk to that stupid sorceress lady. There won't be any trouble…"

          She stood up again, feeling a little better. She opened her wings and got ready to fly to the higher platform when the backpack grabbed her attention.

          "Yeah, no trouble, that's why he made me take all this stuff…" She said grimly. With a sigh, she pulled together what remaining determination she had and took off into the air.

          A magic transport ride later (during which she found out, much to her disappointment, that the transport couldn't be rocked) Sasha found herself standing on an outside walkway surrounding the largest castle she had ever seen. Talon had been huge, but it was dinky compared to Hollow Bastion. The spires rose high above her, the stony roots of the castle fell low down, and the air was full of the spice of magic. 

          She took a step forward, and found herself surrounded on all sides by heartless. Little black ones, big black ones, ones with helmets, ones with hats, they all stood, watching her. She stared them down, they moved, and she jumped. 

          "Ahhh!" She flapped hard, trying to fly through the magic-heavy air. For some strange reason, the energy flowing through the wind was slowing her down, making her work twice as hard to get half as far. 

          Suddenly, there was a change in the air, and something big and heavy knocked her down onto the ground. She rolled and pushed herself back on her feet, just as whatever it was nose-dived at her. She managed to dodge the attack, and was rewarded with a close up view of a shark-like mouth, sharp teeth, and thick wings before the heartless took off again. The heartless she had jumped over had found her again, and they turned to attack her.

          "Oh no…" She held out her hand and summoned wind. It blew past her into the first row of heartless, knocking them back. Suddenly, a blast of magic struck not far from her, followed by another even closer. She backed off, looking around and saw a wizard-like heartless, raising its rod and pointing at her.

          "Gahh! Help!" She yelped, and took off, running blindly towards where she had noticed a door earlier. She didn't go farther than a few feet before running into… someone? Instead of falling back, like she normally would have done, she wrapped her arms around the person. "Make them stop!" 

          It took a second for her to realize that the heartless had stopped, the noises had disappeared, and that she was probably strangling whomever it was that she was squeezing. 

She opened her eyes, let go, and backed off a little. In front of her stood a boy, about her age, with whitish-silver hair and pale turquoise eyes, a shade lighter than Sephiroth's and not quite so crystal-cold. He looked at her casually, a slight smirk tugging his lips. She would have said something right then, if not for the fact that at that moment something behind her growled lowly. With another small yelp she dodged behind the boy, peering over his shoulder fearfully at the small army of heartless in front of them. 

The heartless took a step forward, then another. Slowly, they began to advance. The boy watched them for a moment, then turned slightly to look at Sasha. She looked at him, grinned slightly, then, noticing the advancing line of heartless, whimpered and ducked behind him again. He looked back at the line of heartless, eyes narrowed in thought. Then, with a shrug, he pulled out a sword and stepped forward. One of the helmeted heartless jumped forward, and the boy dodged back, then swung. A few well-placed hits and the heartless puffed out of existence. The other heartless hung back for a second, and then, one by one, quietly disappeared. Sasha dropped to the ground with a relieved sigh.

The boy turned back to her, a smug look on his face. He put the sword away and walked over to her.

"So, who are you?" He asked. Sasha looked up at him. Nice enough, she thought.

"I'm Sasha. I'm here to see some sorceress or something." She said, getting up. "Who're you?"

"My name's-"

A sudden ring of bells interrupted him. His eyes narrowed in annoyance, and he sighed.

"Come on." He grabbed Sasha's arm and began leading her to the big doors she had seen before. 

"Where are we going?" Sasha said, trying to keep up with his hurried pace as they entered the castle.

"To the Meeting Hall. Maleficent wants to see you." The boy led her through another door and up some stairs. Through another door and they were in a giant elevator-shaft like place, with a dozen transports spread through it. 

The boy pointed her to a transport and then walked over to a crystal. He touched it and said something Sasha couldn't quite catch, and joined her on the transport. It hummed to life, flashed through the shaft, speeding past floors and tunnels. Sasha watched in wonder as they descended through the floors, then turned and went sideways through a tunnel.

Eventually they reached another platform, and the boy led the way off. They walked down a flight of stairs together and entered through giant double doors, doors bigger than any Sasha had ever seen. Now they were in a giant hallway, purple flames shining from braziers that lined the room. The doors slid shut with a soft thud, and the flames shone brighter.

Suddenly, a person appeared facing them. A cloak like shadows hung about her, and her pale face stood out in the darkness of the room. Sasha, nervous as she was, dropped into a ready stance out of pure habit. 

"Hm. I was hoping that Sephiroth would have come." Maleficent spoke, her voice making the hair on the back of Sasha's neck stand on end.

"Well, he had stuff to do…" Sasha fidgeted slightly.

"I guess you'll have to do." Maleficent watched her closely, and Sasha, trying to stop, fidgeted even more under the scrutiny. "There is a world that has come to our attention. Its name is Arouk. The heartless have been there and won it, but now a renegade heartless seeks to overthrow the rule and take the world for its own. I need the two of you to go there, find this heartless, and eliminate it."

Sasha glanced at the boy out of the corner of her eye. He didn't seem too happy to be bossed around, but he seemed resigned to following her orders. Sasha looked back at Maleficent as the sorceress began to speak again.

"You need not worry, you shall be rewarded greatly for your efforts." The words seemed directed more at the boy, Sasha noticed. She remembered something suddenly.

"Um, that's all great and all, but… see, there's… well, there's just this one problem…" Sasha found it very difficult to go on with those golden eyes on her.

"Yes…?" Maleficent said impatiently.

"Well, see, I don't have my axe with me, sorta left it behind… on… accident… and, well, I don't have anything to fight with…" Sasha said. Maleficent, with an impatient wave, sent a beam of magic to where Sasha was standing. 

The girl cringed for a second, but then relaxed when she saw the beam stop. It flowed and shaped itself into an ornate battleaxe, made of blackened steel.

"You may use that for the time being. Now, prepare yourselves, for I am sending you to Arouk!" Maleficent lifted her hands, magic playing across them. It shot forward, enveloping both boy and girl in its greenish glow. 

And they were off.

I don't know if I liked this chapter or not. It made me laugh. Oh well. Please review, and tell me if something sounds funky or something. If something is just bad, tell me, I'll change it.

Thanks again to the reviewers! Hope you had a good time! Riku hopes so too!

Riku: Um, where am I? Who are you? How'd I get here?

Hee hee hee….

Riku: Um… why are you licking my shirt?

Um… I'm leaving now. He's all yours, fangirls! *sound of fangirls running*

Riku: *sweatdrops* I am going to die….


	6. New World Arouk

And… the next chapter. I'm tired. I don't know what to write here.I wrote two chapters today and I'm pooped. *falls asleep* *wakes up* 

Anyways, this is a weird time in the story. Bear with it, please, I'm skipping the time when Sora went to Olympus coliseum and the Jungle. (We'll go there, just later. And we'll get to Wonderland too.) So. Yeah. Read, enjoy. I hope you do.

Sephy: I'm not in this chapter. *cries*

Yes, well… erm… *gives Sephy a lollipop*

Sephy: Sugar! ^_^

As always, Kingdom Hearts is not mine. I only baby-sit their characters. 

Chapter 5

          Sasha found herself standing, battleaxe in hand, on a piece of parched land. Looking around, she saw she stood in the middle of a deserted village. A grayish mist hung about the place, and it was difficult to see farther than fifteen feet. The buildings she saw were small huts, made of a stone-like material. The ground was cracked and dusty, and the sky was orange-tinted, with a dim sun hanging low over the horizon.

          Sasha turned around, remembering the boy. Lowering the axe, she started forward slowly, hoping that maybe he was somewhere nearby. A sudden noise brought her to attention, and she raised the axe, turning to face the nearest hut. A pile of discarded and dirty cloth moved, and a dingy brown animal crawled out. Sasha relaxed slightly, and stepped closer. The animal was cat-like, with long thin legs and a curving tail. It looked at her suspiciously, and then darted off, wheezing.

          "That was weird." Sasha said out loud, still looking after the creature.

          "What?" 

          Sasha turned quickly, and was relieved to see the boy. She wasn't alone.

          "This… cat thing. I dunno," Sasha shook her head. "It was nothing."

          "Hm." The boy looked off in the direction she had been looking, then turned back to her. "Oh, right. You still don't know my name. I'm Riku."

          "Nice to meet ya." Sasha grinned, although the name rang familiar. Just what was it that made her know that name? It hit her. Sora! That was the name of the friend he was looking for!

          "Come on, we better get moving. It'll take some time to find that renegade…" Riku sighed, then turned and started walking. 

          Sasha followed, all the time wondering just what she should do. Should she tell him? If she did, how'd he react? Should she just stay quiet and talk to Sora the next time she saw him? What if she had to fight Sora the next time they met?! Well, Riku **was** working with Maleficent. And wasn't she some big darkness boss? But then again, what if he was like her, working for someone who they didn't want to, only because there was no way out. It would make sense, especially with a powerful sorceress like Maleficent. She decided to wait on the talk, and hold it off until she learned a little more about Riku's stay at Hollow Bastion.

          All the time she was thinking, Riku was watching her. All he could think of was how it was that she was here. Remembering the way she acted when he first saw her, he could hardly believe she was a fighter. Here she was, though, holding the axe on her shoulder with a practiced ease. Hopefully, she acted better with a weapon than without one. He sighed, looked back in front of him. Chasing down renegade heartless wasn't one his more favorable jobs, but Maleficent had said… she _promised_. He had to, now; he had no choice. 

          "Hey, what's that?" Sasha stopped, pointing to the right at a large object that stood far above the mist. Riku turned to look, squinting to look through the mist.

          "A mountain? Who knows…" Riku looked back at her.

          "Should we check it out?" Sasha asked, still looking at the shape.

          "Why not." Riku shrugged, then turned to lead the way. 

          They walked for some time, leaving the huts far behind, but nothing else seemed to change. The sun still hung muggy on the horizon, and the mist still faded what they saw. The shape they headed for didn't seem to grow smaller nor bigger. Finally they stopped, slightly out of breath and tired.

          "Could you fly up and see how far we are from there?" Riku asked Sasha.

          "Sure, I'll try." She handed him the axe, fastened the backpack, and jumped. 

          The mist was the hardest to get through. It stuck to her feathers and tried to drag her down, and she had to flap hard to get through it. About twenty-five feet above the ground, the mist began to thin. A soft wind blew, dispersing the uppermost layer of mist and making it easier for her to stay aloft.

          She took a second to catch her breath, and turned to focus on the shape. Above the mist visibility was much better, and the shape towered above her. She gauged the distance, then took a look around to see if there was anything else interesting around. The only shape visible above the mist was that huge mountain-like object. With a flip of her wings, Sasha descended, finding the way down much easier.

          "We're not that far off. Just about two miles or so, I think." She answered the unspoken question, taking back her axe.

          "Alright. Well, lets get going. No sense wasting time." Riku glanced at her, and she nodded. 

          The going began to get rough. The cracks in the ground widened, and the parched earth gave up more dust than before, irritating their eyes and sending a bad taste into the back of their mouths.

          "Sheesh. Why did we have to go? Wasn't there someone else who could've went?" Sasha muttered bitterly, trying to brush the dust out of her eyes. She only succeeded in waving more dust into her mouth, and suffered a coughing attack that lasted for quite a bit.

          "You okay?" Riku stopped and looked at her.

          "Just dandy." Sasha replied sullenly.

          It took them longer than they thought to reach the gargantuan shape. The cracks, in some places, were huge, and there were a few that looked as if they were dried-up riverbeds. The most disturbing thing, though, was the silence. Along the course of their journey, Sasha and Riku found themselves creeping closer to each other. Both of them glanced uneasily into the mist.

          "This isn't right. It's too quiet." Sasha said lowly, raising her axe into battle position.

          "Yeah…" Riku answered, holding his sword at ready. "With the mist, anything can happen."

          Sasha nodded grimly, peering into the dusty air. Suddenly, with no reason, the air they walked into cleared. The mist hung back behind them, a wall of dim gray. In front of them, murky red streaked with black, rose the mountain they had been heading for. Both stopped, stared in awe at the amazing rise of stone.

          "I didn't know it would be this big." Sasha said, raising her eyes and straining to see the top. 

          "Well, we got here." Riku said, gazing up. "That's something."

          "Hm…" Sasha hefted the axe onto her shoulder and stepped closer to the stone. She leaned a little, looking closely at how the colors changed and rippled. "Its all glossy and shiny. This is cool."

          There was a movement to her left, and she turned slightly to see what it was. A dingy brown streak ran around her, up her leg and side, and leaped towards her axe-arm. Fangs bit into her wrist, claws tore into her arm, and with a cry she waved her arm, dropping her axe. As soon as the axe had dropped, the creature detached itself and dropped to the ground, hissing.

          "Why you mangy little furball!" Sasha picked her axe up, fully intent on cutting the cat-like thing to ribbons. The creature leaped up with amazing power, aiming at her neck. She swung the axe, but the creature was already inside the blade range. Instead of being cut, it got hit by the blunt shaft and was thrown at the stone. There was a flash of red light, and the creature took of running, a brown streak disappearing into the mist.

          "What just happened?" Riku, having watched the creature run away, turned back to the stone. Where the creature had hit, a multitude of shining cracks had appeared. Even as he watched, more formed from the existing ones, all of them shining a reddish light.

          "I didn't do it!" Sasha exclaimed, backing off hurriedly.

          Even as they watched, a giant crack formed along the center, and pieces of stone began falling off. The two backed off, hoping not to get hit by the falling debris. Suddenly, there was a loud, echoing roar, and the mountain exploded in a giant flash of red light. They covered their eyes from the blast, but what they saw when they looked again froze both of them.

          In front of them stood what seemed to be a mix of a shark and a few dinosaurs. It had a dusty reddish hide, with black streaks running across it. It stood on two tyrannosaur-like legs, with two shorter arms. Its tail was like a shark's, and it even had a dorsal fin like a shark. From its back two wings extended, thick and similar to those of the flying heartless. Not only that, it stood a good eighty feet off the ground.

          "That… that…" Sasha fell into silence. Riku didn't respond, too shocked to say a word. The creature looked around at the landscape, then focused on them.

          **_MY HOME! _**The telepathic voice roared through their minds. **_What have you done to my home?!_**

          "W-we…we didn't… d-didn't do it…" Sasha squeaked.

          **_LIARS!_**

          The beast roared out loud again, its wings flapping. The force blew the mist back, and both Riku and Sasha had to grab hold of some rubble to avoid being blown away. Suddenly, the beast folded his wings tight to his sides, and dove into the ground. The earth parted as if it was water, and soon he was entirely in the ground.

          "He's… he's not doing what I think he's doing, is he?" Sasha whimpered.

          "There's your answer." Riku readied his sword again and pointed to a point a few hundred feet away. Sasha turned as the ground rumbled, and saw the red fin rising above the dusty ground.

          "Oh great, he's circling us…" Sasha readied her axe. "He'll probably try to attack us from the middle, so he could separate us."

          "So we watch, wait, and when he comes up, attack…" Riku said, watching the fin closely.

          "Yup." Sasha kept her eyes on the fin, and it suddenly descended into the ground. 

          A few seconds later the ground beneath their feet buckled. They ran in opposite directions as the ground tumbled.

          "He isn't a heartless is he?" Sasha called.

          "I don't think so, and why do you keep calling it a 'he'?" Riku answered back.

          "He just sounds like a he." Sasha shrugged, sliding to a stop. The beast's head broke through the ground, followed by his body. His arms strained against the earth to pull him out, and his tail broke free from the ground a little behind him.

          "Attack him, now!" Riku called, and they both leaped forward, swinging their blades. The sword and axe connected-- and glanced off. 

          "That didn't even scratch him!" Sasha exclaimed. 

          The beast chuckled, loud and deep, and then descended into the earth again. The two fighters regrouped together and stood, back-to-back, watching the fin weave circles around them.

          "Now what…" Riku tilted his head to her, "You have any ideas?"

          Sasha thought hard, and then it came to her. 

          "Yes! I do!" She Reached into her pants pocket and pulled out the glassy materia. "I just hope that works."

          "What do we do?" Riku turned back to see the fin disappear. "It's getting ready!"

          "It's a he! And all we have to do is wait for him to show himself again." Sasha held the material, glancing around anxiously. 

          The ground in front of them broke apart, and the beast roared out. A clawed hand crashed down next to them, and the beast roared again, its breath whipping the dust up from the ground.

          "Get that beast!" Sasha exclaimed, holding the materia out. The beast pulled back, watching with surprise. There was a tense moment, but it passed quickly. 

          **_Ha! That bauble is worthless!_**          The beast went at them again.

          "What?! NO! AHHH!" Sasha freaked out, seeing the giant mouth full of sharp teeth coming at her, and threw the materia at the beast. It bounced off one of its teeth and dropped to the ground. Sasha, in the meanwhile, took off and dove behind a large rock. "Run for cover!"

          "Hey!" Riku was shocked to suddenly find himself facing down the beast, all alone. He stood there for a second, sword at ready, then turned and ran for another large rock.

          **_You puny things. You cannot hide from me._**

          The beast took a step forward, then stopped. Something had begun to hum, lowly but steadily growing louder.

          "What is that?" Sasha peered from behind her rock.

          The materia on the ground had begun to glow. A soft shadowy light shone from it, spreading out towards the beast. The light touched, and suddenly coalesced to form a giant rope. It began to bind itself around the massive beast.

          **_What?! What is this magic? I-I cannot lose!_** The beast struggled against the rope, but was soon dragged down to the ground. **_NOO!!_**

          With a bright flash and a resounding boom, the beast disappeared. The light faded, disappeared. Sasha jumped out from behind the rock.

          "It worked! Awesome!" She ran forward to where the materia was laying and picked up the now-red stone.

          "That… was strange." Riku walked up, looked at the stone quizzically. "Now, what just happened?"

          "The beast is in here now," Sasha said, indicating the stone. "Now it's a summon! Although I don't think I should use it just yet. I'll talk to Sephiroth about it later…"

          "Well, that's over. Now what." Riku said, looking around. Sasha shrugged, put the material away in her pocket.

          "Off to find that renegade, I guess." She said, looking towards the rubble where the mountain had once stood. Something was moving there, moving to stand on the rubble. "What's that?"

          "What?" Riku turned to look.

          On the mound of rubble stood the dingy brown cat creature, tail whipping, eyes glowing amber. With a loud yowl it leapt forward and disappeared into the rubble.

          "Where'd it go?" Sasha said, walking over. 

The two searched the rubble, and found something they weren't expecting. Hidden between two rocks was a four-foot hole in the ground.

          "Should we?" Sasha looked at Riku.

          "Might as well. Might be somewhere we need to go." Riku answered.

          Together, they descended into darkness.

I… am going to go die now. O.O Next chapter will be up whenever. I hope you guys like it. I just wanted to show that there were other worlds where the heartless went, and such. And renegade Heartless, that's gonna be fun. And yes, there will be a lot of interaction between Sasha and Riku, but its not going to get all relationship-y. Not so much Sasha-Sora interaction, but we know his story, so… blah.  Also, more Insane Sephy goodness after the next chapter. 

Sephy: YAY! *throws up lollipops. Most fall and get stuck in his hair* Uh-oh…

So, any questions, Zoshitheconfused@yahoo.com. And I hope you have a good day. 


	7. Arouk2

Yaysees! Next chap! Okay, yes, this is the final other-world chapter. But maybe there will be another, in another place. But I highly doubt it. Unless someone tells me otherwise.

Sephy: *reading Zoshi's bio* I'm insane?

Yes you are.

Sephy: *growls*

Look, sugar! *points in random direction*

Sephy: Wheeee! *runs off*

Er, yes, anyways, KH is not mine. Neither is Sephy. Insane Sephy, well, he's just there.

Chapter 6

          "So, where now?" Sasha said, hands on her hips, turning round and round to get a good look at all seven tunnels that branched from the main tunnel. She sighed, turned back to Riku. The boy was looking critically at one tunnel.

          "This way." Turning on his heel, he started into the tunnel directly opposite the one he had been looking at.

          "If you say so…" Sasha began to follow him. In short time they had moved quickly through the tunnel, and soon reached another split. All along the way, a glow on the tunnel walls gave them just barely enough light to see with. Just barely.

          "Hey, if this is a renegade Heartless we're dealing with, then, shouldn't he have little heartless helpers that should be fighting us right now?" Sasha glanced uneasily into the darkness behind them as Riku stood, studying the tunnels.

          "That's true…" Riku looked around, shrugged. "Well, it just makes it easier for us. Come on, I think this is the way."

          He set off into the left branch, and Sasha followed. Their walk lasted, how long, they couldn't tell. But it was long enough to make them stop to catch their breath. Sasha sat down near the wall, leaning back against it and wondering how she had ever gotten herself into this. She sighed, looked over at Riku. He was standing at the other wall, head lowered as he thought about something.

          "Hey, Riku? Were you always at Hollow Bastion?" Sasha asked casually, putting her hands behind her head. The boy looked over in her direction.

          "No. Not always. I came from a different world…" Riku trailed off for a second.

          "How'd you get with that sorceress? She's all freaky…" Sasha put her hands on her knees and leaned forward. Riku smiled.

          "Yeah, she is. Well, she said she'd help… she said she'd help me find my friends." Riku looked away again.

          "And your world?" Sasha asked. Riku shrugged.

          "It doesn't matter. That's not the important thing. The important thing here is to find them. Then…" Riku said firmly, then got a thoughtful look on his face. He shook his head. "It doesn't matter what happens afterwards, just as long as I find them… that's all that matters."

          Sasha was in awe of his words. All of this, everything he'd do, was to find his friends. But, what if what Sephiroth said was true? That Maleficent was so close to the darkness… Riku wouldn't know what he was getting himself into. But, then again, Sasha thought, Neither did I, when I helped Sephiroth. She sighed, when chaos strikes, kids are always exploited. 

          "So, what's your story?" Riku asked, and although his head stayed down he glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

          "Well, my world got destroyed by the heartless, and ever since then I've been stuck in Limbo, running errands for Sephiroth and getting scared by randomly appearing walls and various kitchen appliances." Sasha shrugged. "Pretty boring, actually. Unless Sephiroth starts ranting. Then it gets interesting, what with all the dramatic speeches and poses and plans."

          Riku raised an eyebrow at that last part.

          "He tells you his plans?" He obviously thought this a stupid move, as Sasha would have, but considering the circumstances, she didn't.

          "Oh, don't worry, they change every time. I think we're on his thirty-fourth one by now." Sasha grinned to herself. Sephiroth may be insane and evil, and evilly insane, but he sure made the boring nothingness of Limbo a lot more bearable. Riku shook his head and chuckled. 

          "We should get moving. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we get out of here." Riku said, pushing off from the wall. This time he waited until Sasha got up before setting off. 

          It took them quite a while to get through the maze of tunnels. Finally they decided to leave markers in the tunnels they'd been through. Following those that were unmarked, they managed to make their way to a large cave. By this time they were hungry, thirsty, and severely annoyed by the sudden droppings of little lizard-like creatures that began falling from the ceiling, leaving purple smears on whatever they hit. Grimacing with disgust as he plucked another small lizard out of his now-purple streaked hair, Riku looked forward and took a step back in surprise.

          "What the hell is that?" 

          Sasha, busy trying to get a squirming lizard out from the back of her shirt, took a moment before looking. Then she too took a step back in surprise.

          "Whatever it is, it looks… gooey." Sasha tilted her head, with a puzzled look on her face, and Riku nodded.

          Indeed, whatever had plopped down in the middle of the giant cave was gooey. Not only that, it seemed to be oozing masses of the little lizards that were everywhere. It looked like a giant melted multicolored gumdrop, with black, rubbery spikes sticking out of it in random intervals. All the crawling lizards created an almost inaudible hiss, sounding just a little like snow on a TV. Before either Sasha or Riku could speak again, though, silence came, and a low voice spoke.

          _I am Inidor._

          Where the voice came from, they couldn't tell, until it finally clicked that the voice could be coming from the giant blob itself.

          "Are… are you a heartless?" Sasha finally managed to ask.

          _A heartless? Or maybe you should be asking, the heartless, the one you seek._

          "Er… yeah, okay, are you?" Sasha sidled a little closer to Riku as the wave of lizards suddenly increased in their direction.

          _Yes, I am the one you were sent to destroy. Although, I ask, please, do not. _

          "And, why's that?" Sasha asked, readying her axe and wondering why she was doing all the talking. She glanced over at Riku, saw him staring intently at something on the other side of the room.

          _The sorceress… she fears this worlds. Fears my influence. She does not understand… I had lived here, once. Long, long ago. And now, I do not wish to destroy this world. All I want to do is protect it. _

          "But…" Sasha started, realized that she really didn't know what she wanted to say. Riku moved suddenly, pulling his sword ready.

          "We have to fight it." He said, then looked at her, his turquoise eyes hard.

          "We do?" Sasha was getting confused. The heartless was being… nice. All it wanted to do was save the world it had known. Didn't… didn't that mean that it… it just might have a heart?  
          "Yes. You'll see why soon enough." Riku gripped his sword tightly.

          Suddenly, a familiar sounding yowl filled the room, and a dingy-brown streak dashed past them into the room. It launched itself at the giant blob, dove into it.

          _What?! NO! What is this? What… what is happening?!_

          The blob suddenly spasmed, shook. Its colors brightened, then darkened, then brightened again. The lizards closest to it that had been crawling forward stopped, turned back into it. It pulled itself up, up, thinned, formed into a large dark purple opaque lizard. 

          "The cat! Dammit!" Sasha's wings bristled in aggravation, sparks flying. "That must've been the real heartless, the real one we were supposed to be after!"

          "But… it didn't have any heartless signs!" Riku said, turning to Sasha.

          "Well, how else would you explain that?" Sasha pointed at the dripping lizard, which now was flicking its long tail about the room. Riku looked back, trying to figure it out. He shook his head. No sense worrying about it now. They had a job to do.

          "No matter. Now we have to go through with it," Riku said, running forward.

          "How do I get myself into these things?" Sasha muttered, rushing after him.

          Just as they reached it, the lizard swung forward its tail. Both jumped over it easily, Sasha hovering in the air for a second, long enough to see the massive leg come swing at Riku as he landed.

          "Riku! Watch out!" She sent a blast of fire towards it, and although it didn't seem to damage it, it stopped the appendage long enough for Riku to roll out of the way.

          With a cry, Riku lunged forward, plunging his sword into the lizard's body and slashed it out. The lizard reared its head in a silent scream, then plunged it down in his direction. Sasha dove down, managing to slice into its neck before it reached him. Unfortunately, this left her open to an attack from the tail. It whipped her wings, covering them in the dark goo that formed it. She fell in a heap on the flour with a resounding crash.

          "Owww…" She groaned, looking up in time to see Riku fly over her thanks to a hit from another lizard arm. "Dammit… how're we supposed to beat this thing?"

          "Maybe… maybe we should try magic…" Riku said, breathing hard and trying not to choke as the remainder of the lizards searched frantically for a hiding spot, and thought that his mouth made a good one.

          "Good idea…" Sasha pushed herself off the ground and stood shakily. She stared the lizard down, or maybe, attempted to, since there were so many yellow glowing spots on its head she found it hard to just pick two and stick with them. "Okay lizard, eat lightning!"

          Pointing her hand at the lizard, she mustered up as much lightning as she could without passing out and shot it out. The lizard reared in surprise, and the lightning hit it straight in the chest, right where the heartless logo had formed (finally). It left a gaping, smoking, bad smelling hole, and also an enraged, fuming giant lizard.

          It lurched forward again, and Sasha took off running. Now, running wasn't exactly the greatest form of battle, but it suited her just fine. 

          Riku got up painfully, brushing away dust and the lizards that remained clinging to his pants. He took in the battle scene. Obviously, lightning was damaging the lizard, and more than Sasha fire blast had done before. Actually, now that he looked at it, the lizard was weakening with each splash of goo that dropped from its gaping wound. Unfortunately, they couldn't wait for it to drip to death, because the hole was also healing quickly. Thankfully, he hoped, the lizard was paying all its attention to Sasha, who was running and jumping, and basically acting like a spaz, in the intention of not getting eaten. So far, it was working. Riku just hoped that it would work long enough for him to gather some energy and cast that lightning spell. 

          Sasha was about to yell at Riku to help when she glanced at him and noticed that he was gathering energy. She found herself quite happy to be stuck in a situation like this with someone who could think of some sort of plan; she only hoped that he'd act on it before she became lizard chow. She kept running, until suddenly the lizard began slowing. Its head began to turn, its dozens of eyes turning to look in Riku's direction.

          "Oh no, that's not gonna work, buddy," Sasha said, and turned around. She ran at the wall, jumped, bounced off and landed a high kick straight in the middle of all those dozens of eyes… and promptly bounced off. The lizard reared its head, shaking it in dizzy pain, as she fell backwards to the floor. She tried to flap her wings and almost slapped herself for her stupidity. They were still held closed with all the goo that the lizard had slapped on them. A second later she hit the floor… and bounced again. The goo had turned rubbery, and now she was flying through the air again. And now, she found herself heading at the ground again, at high speeds. Face first.

          "Oh no…" She muttered.

          Just as she though she was going to end up going to a plastic surgeon for the next few years of her life, Riku unleashed his lightning. Bright blue flashed to white, a boom like a dozen jets breaking the speed of sound, and Sasha found herself falling into a mass of slurring dark purple goo-soup. It splashed around her, and she groaned. 

          "Need help?" Riku stood above her, a smug look on his face. Sasha growled at him, thoroughly disgusted in her new purple covering and aggravated at the fact that the only dark purple goo on Riku was on his shoes, but held out an arm anyway. It was hard getting out of that goo. 

          "Thanks." She said once they had gotten her out of there. They stood there for a second, not really knowing what to do, still hungry, still thirsty, and now very tired. Suddenly, there was a hiss, and all the purple goo disappeared. It faded from their clothes, and Sasha's wings; although, for some strange reason, it didn't fade from Riku's hair.

          "Dammit!" He growled, and gripped his hair in frustration. Sasha laughed.

          "Don't worry, maybe it'll wash out." She said, still laughing.

          There was a rush of wind about them, and they turned to see Maleficent standing behind them. 

          "Very well done. I applaud you both." Maleficent looked at them from on high. She turned to Sasha. "Sasha, I have an offer to make to you."

          "Yeah?" Sasha said, hoisting her axe onto her shoulder tiredly.

          "If you would come with me, work with me, I think I'd be able to help you find your world." Maleficent said sweetly, darkly. Sasha looked at her, shocked for a moment. Find her world? She almost jumped at the opportunity. Then she stopped herself. Her world had been taken by darkness, just as this one had, and look what happened here. She sighed, shaking her head. Working with Sephiroth wasn't any better, but she was sure she'd find his company better than the sorceress'.

          "Nice offer, but I'd rather not." Sasha said.

          "Are you sure?" Maleficent looked at her, a fake caring glint coming to her eyes. "You would be able to see your world again. You would be able to see your friends, your family. Everything, it would be yours. All you have to do is come with me."

          Sasha, in truth, wanted to go home very badly. What if it was true? She thought. She'd be able to see everyone again, able to visit all her favorite spots, with no more of this heartless nonsense. But, the way Maleficent had said that it would all be hers, sent a shiver through her heart. She shook her head again. There was no way she'd do that. She couldn't trust that the heartless would be out of the picture, because Maleficent was in the picture. If she were in the picture, all her terrible power would be too. Sasha didn't want any of it. She was aware that Riku was watching her closely, and something else twinged in her. If she stayed, she might just have a friend. No lonely days while Sephiroth stared in silence, no more random suicide-training… She shook her head again. No, no matter what she gained, it wouldn't be worth all the darkness that followed.

          "No. Really, thanks for the offer, but I'd really rather go back to limbo." Sasha sighed, met eyes with Maleficent. 

The sorceress wasn't please. But, there was still time. Still time when they could bring the girl into their grip. For now, she'd let her stay with Sephiroth. Later, later, there was still time.

"Very well then. I shall send you back." Maleficent said, and with a wave of her hand, Riku found himself staring at nothing. 

He turned away quickly, a little miffed about not having someone to talk to anymore. But then again, it didn't matter. The girl didn't take the offer, he had. That meant he still had things to do. Like finding his friends. He'd find them first, worry about her later.

Yes, okay, remember now, no SashaxRiku stuff, they're just gonna be friends. Wanna make that clear. And yes, there are many things I don't like about this chapter. Many many more than I like about this chapter. I hope you kinda enjoyed it. Hope.

As always, flames, questions: zoshitheconfused@yahoo.com

Sephy: *sends twenty flames* hee hee heee….Muahahahaaa!

Um, you okay?

Sephy: *still grinning evilly, runs away and eats… donuts! The chocolate glazed and sugar frosted ones*


	8. Limbo, again

Disclaimer: KH is not mine. Poo.

In this chapter-

I.Sephy: *stumbles into the room, singing* Nobody lovesh me… Itsh true!

Uh, Sephy…?

I.Sephy: *stumbles up to the computer monitor and hogs it tightly* Not like YOU DOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Okay, note to self, do not give Sephy sugar and Portishead cd's at the same time..

Anyways, in this chapter, there's great insane Sephy goodness (not as much as I want, but eh, there's always next chapter.) along with some bonding. Awwww. Some. Yeah, sorry, No Riku. 

Oooo… while I'm at it, I'm going to thank some reviewers:

Ari:

You were my first reviewer, and you've been reviewing ever since. Thanks for your support, and your pointers. I'll keep all of it in mind.

slinkster sunshine:

Thank you for reviewing. You've also helped. Thank you for your comments. I'll try not to make it a Mary-Sue.

Blue fox:

Thank you for your reviews. I'll try to keep the chapters coming as quick as possible. 

So, enjoy…

Chapter 7

          "AHHH! I MISSED YOU!!!" 

Sasha squealed as soon as she materialized in Limbo. She threw aside her borrowed axe and dove straight for her old, familiar double-blade, hugging it and petting it and reassuring it that she would never leave it behind again.

Sephiroth stood there, a little surprised, a little confused, and a little angry that all this time he'd been worrying about the girl, and here she came, running by and totally ignoring him. 

How rude, he thought.

He waited another moment, then cleared his throat loudly. It still took a second for Sasha to snap out of it and look up.

"Oh, Hi Sephiroth! I didn't see you." She grinned at him. She didn't know why, but she felt very, very happy to be back in Limbo.

"So, what happened?" Sephiroth asked, leaning back against a conveniently appearing wall.

"Well, I met this kid named Riku, he looks about my age. He's got silver hair like you, and his eyes are kinda the same as yours, but not quite. Anyway, I met that freaky sorceress Maleficent," Sasha shuddered. "She's icky. I don't like her. Then, though, she sent me and Riku to go hunt down this renegade heartless in some world…"

"What was its name?" Sephiroth found it interesting that Maleficent would send someone she didn't know out to hunt down a renegade.

"Ar… Aou…aw, I don't know, It'll get back to me later. Anyways, we did that. Aaaaannnnd…" Sasha dug around in her pockets, pulled out the red material. "I caught something!"

She held the material up proudly. Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.

"What? A Rabbit?" He smirked.

"Hey! You take that back! This thing was big and scary and had teeth!" Sasha got up, wings bristling. She held the material an inch away from Sephiroth's face. "Why don't you use it and see for yourself?"

Sephiroth was about to push her hand away when something about the material stopped him. He stopped his hand, then reached out and plucked it from Sasha. The girl stood there, a little shocked by the sudden clarity in his eyes as he looked intently and deeply into the stone.

"Arouk." Sephiroth muttered, still looking at the stone.

"Hey, that's the place… how… how'd you know that?" Sasha looked at him quizzically. Sephiroth looked at her for a second, then tossed the material back to her. 

"It doesn't matter. Anyway, I'd advise you not to use that summon for a little while. He still needs to get used to his new life." Sephiroth half-turned.

"Ha! I told him it was a he! I was right! Hahaha!!" Sasha cackled, holding the material in both hands and staring at it like a miner who'd just found his lost gold. Sephiroth looked back at her a little scared. She felt his gaze, and looked up, grinning sheepishly.

"I…uh…" Just then her stomach chose to growl. "Er… I'm hungry."

          A little later, Sasha wasn't sure just how long, Sephiroth was goading her into another training session. Well, at least he'd let her eat. Although Sasha really didn't want to think about where the food that randomly appeared in Limbo came from. It was just best not to wonder about such things. 

          "But Sephiroth, I don't wanna…" Sasha tried to whine. Even though she knew from experience it wouldn't work. But, you never know. This might just be the time it DID work. Sephiroth gave her that look, and she sighed. "Fine, fine."

          She stepped forward, hoisting up her axe on her shoulder and giving Sephiroth a scathing look.

          "I know you don't want to do this, but you have to train sometime, otherwise you won't be able to beat any new enemies." Sephiroth said, pulling out the Masamune.

          "Yeah, well…" Sasha gulped, watching the half-light shine on the long blade. "Can we try NOT to try to kill Sasha this time?"

          Sephiroth gave her a fake-puzzled look; as if he didn't know what she meant and was sure that nothing like that had ever happened. He readied the Masamune and faced her.

          "Come on. A quick run." Sephiroth gave her his nice-guy smile. Sasha sighed, she didn't want to, but it was training, and she needed it.

          "Fine." 

          She stepped forward, readied her axe. With an unspoken signal, both of them flew at each other. Not literally, of course. It was more of running than flying. Either way, they attempted to slice the other. Sephiroth, of course, had cut down on his speed and strength, not quite even with Sasha but not high enough to pose a deadly problem. Besides, he was thinking more clearly right then, and knew that accidentally cutting the girl to pieces wasn't in his best interests. 

          They exchanged some blows, dodging around each other. Sephiroth watched Sasha closely, pleased to see that previous training sessions had improved her footwork and ability to dodge. He struck out with a sword, catching her in the side with the flat of the blade. Sasha stopped suddenly, dropped a hand from the axe, gasping and grabbing her side as if in pain. 

          Sephiroth stopped, confused, and maybe just a little worried. He hadn't hit her that hard, had he? Just as he was about to step forward, the axe handle was slammed into his stomach, knocking him breathless. He stepped back, growling, as Sasha readied the axe again, laughing.

          "You fell for it! Ha! That was great! Oh man, I never thought that YOU, of all people, would fall for the pity trick!" She laughed, silently thanking a friend for telling her about the trick so long ago. She'd never had a chance to use it, but she hadn't thought that it would work against Sephiroth.

          "Grrr… that wasn't nice…" Sephiroth growled, glaring at her. How dare she use his petty human weaknesses against him?! He vowed silently never to pity the girl again. With a move that didn't quite seem like a move, he knocked the axe out of her hands and made as if to stab her.

          Sasha noticed her lack of weaponry and his stance, and stopped laughing. Instead, she dashed off amazingly fast, ran around him, and, before he realized what she was doing, jumped onto his back and threw her arms around his neck, holding on tightly.

          "Hey! That's not fair!" Sephiroth tried grabbing her with his hand, but each time he did, she whacked him on the hand. And then in the head. He would've used the Masamune, but considering the great length of the blade, it wouldn't be too easy. Sasha laughed again.

          "Everything's fair in the game of war!" Sasha said, quite pleased that she had grabbed the upper hand in this battle. This was, of course, a second before she was flipped over his back and landed on her back, with scrucnched wings and the Masamune at her neck.

          "Eeep!" She exclaimed. Sephiroth paused.

          "Did you just say 'eeep'?" He asked, and Sasha nodded. He sighed, shook his head and removed the Masamune. He released the sword back into the darkness where it waited for him, while Sasha slid her way over to her axe. Reaching it, she picked it up and sat on the ground, watching Sephiroth, who wasn't exactly doing anything very interesting at the moment.

          "Sephiroth?" she finally ventured. He jerked slightly, as if she had pulled him out of his thoughts suddenly, and turned his head to her, eyes narrowed. "Well, uh, I just… I was just wondering… Do I HAVE to kill the keybearer? I mean, can't I bring him back here when I find him and let you kill him?"

          Sephiroth sighed, but then thought about it. True, that might work. Bringing the Keybearer into Limbo, though, was a gamble. Who knows what his power might cause to happen here.

          "It would be much easier to defeat him out in the worlds. And besides, we do not know what his power might cause to happen to this place," Sephiroth said, looking off somewhere into Limbo. He saw the shimmer starting in the corner of his eye again, turned away even though he knew he couldn't escape it.

          Sasha kept her eyes on him. She would have commented on the 'we' comment, quite sure the other person he referred wasn't her. She was smarter than that by now, though, and kept her mouth shut. At least about that. About other things, she didn't mind opening her mouth.

          "Well, I still don't understand why you can't go out there, get rid of him, and come back. Come on, I'll track him down, and when I do, I'll come back here, get you, and zoom back. Once you take care of him, we'll flash back here. Whaddya say?" Sasha asked hopefully.

          "No." Sephiroth said simply. The shimmer in his eyes was growing, but he knew Sasha couldn't see it. He shook his head.

          "Why not? Why are you so scared to go out there?" Sasha was quite perplexed.

          "Because…" Sephiroth knocked back the shimmer a little, "Because, Once I go out… I won't be able to come back."

          "Oh…" Sasha said. Or rather, she wanted to. All she could do was form the word, but not really say it. This was quite something. It all made sense now. Why Sephiroth had jumped at the opportunity at having someone to run the errands for him, why he pushed her so hard.

          Sephiroth, the shimmer starting to take many forms, dropped to the ground, sat with his head in his hands, his hair flowing between his fingers and lacing on the ground. He couldn't hold it back anymore. It was amazing he'd held it back as long as he had, in truth. His wing relaxed slightly, contracted sharply, then relaxed again. He couldn't hold it; he'd just let it go, let it flow through him once more. He hated it, hated everything about it, but he was helpless, helpless against the storm it brought.

          "Are…are you ok?" Sasha asked, seeing the sudden change and getting a little worried.

          "I'm fine." Sephiroth whispered, his voice hardly louder than a breath, but she heard it anyway. He sat there, struggling against memories and visions, finding himself unable to separate the truth from what his tortured mind had created on its own. 

          Suddenly, something touched him lightly on the head. The visions pulled back in shock. The blazing light faded slightly. He couldn't quite figure it out just yet, was sure it was just another stage he hadn't entered until now.

          "Don't worry, Sephiroth," Sasha said, petting the man gently on the head and talking softly, feeling quite brave in doing so. "I'll help you."

          Sephiroth stopped thinking, stopped making excuses for what just happened. It must've been a hallucination, there was no way that the girl would do it… was there? He lifted his head slightly, slowly, just enough to be able to see past the sheer silver of his hair and into the amber eyes that looked back at him. 

          "And besides, that'll give you someone to rant to." Sasha said helpfully. 

          Sephiroth looked at her for a moment, and then started laughing. Although it seemed quite random and crazy, it was actually a very relieved sort of laughing. He wasn't going any more insane than he already was, although the girl might've been, considering she had never done anything nice to him before this.

          "Um…" Sasha was quite taken aback, and didn't know what to do. For a second, she was afraid she'd caused Sephiroth to go even deeper into insanity, but then his laughs faded, and he looked at her, for once turquoise eyes holding no sign of insanity. For just a moment… he was… _sane_.

          "Thank you." Sephiroth said, then got up. His mind was whirring faster, unhindered, at least for the moment, by any random thoughts. 

          "Uh… no problem…" Sasha was still in shock over what had just happened. Maybe Sephiroth had went Bi-Polar?

          "Oh, and take as much time off as you want this time." Sephiroth said, walking over to a cabinet that had just appeared. He opened it and pulled out an armload of things. Walking back to where Sasha was still sitting, and ignoring the fact that the cabinet had turned into an armoire, he sat down, cross legged and spread out what he had brought over.

          There were some pieces of wood, a few sticks, a bag of marshmallows, a box of graham crackers and a bar of chocolate. Sasha looked down at everything for a moment, then looked back up at Sephiroth.

          "S'mores." He said, then set about setting up the small bonfire and getting everything ready.

          "Heyyy… I could get used to this." Sasha grinned. Sephiroth snorted.

          "Don't." He said, smacked her hand with a stick when she tried to sneak a marshmallow.

          "You're cruel." Sasha crossed her arms angrily, but couldn't help but think that she had made some headway with the fighter.

          Had Sephiroth heard her thoughts, he just might have agreed.

I want to hug Sephy! *Looks around* But I think he's currently sleeping off his sugar high. Anyways, I hoped you guys like this one. Poor Sephy. Insanity is so hard to live with.


	9. Wonderland: The Frame

Disclaimer: Anything Kingdom Hearts-y isn't mine. It belongs to Square/Disney or whoever owns it. For example, Wonderland. In true-truth, belongs to Lewis Carrol, right? Riiight, or at least, copyrighted. Whatever. It's all the same. Okay, basically, anything that isn't mine isn't mine. Okay? Okay…

I'm moving the thanks to the bottom. Either way, as this is one hell of a long chapter, I think you'll all be too damn tired to read them. 

This is going to be darker than the previous chapters, considering there's going to be some mind-delving here. And such. It's fun. *evil grin* Actually now that I think of it, this might be the darkest chapter in this story. Well, we'll see how the Halloween Town one is. But this one… It's… I don't know, you all tell me what you think of it. But just one thing…I LOVED writing this chap. LOVED it. This is what I'm meant to write as, in all truth. This is how I really want to write, and it shows. I think this is going to be the longest chapter in the story. I had so much fun. Muahahahaaaaa! I'm evil, its true. 

And I've finished my second chapter in an original fiction, extremely dark, depressing, and I guess angst-ful, which means that *does quick calculations* in about two years, you should be looking for Zoshi the Confused on your local bookstores shelves. Hopefully. Yes, yes, I'm shameless. This is the last shameless promo, I promise. Until, of course, I finish the book. Then I'll promo. And promo and promo and… You all hate me now, don't you? You're all going: Get on with the damn story all ready! ARRRGHHHH!!!! , aren't you? Okays, on with the story:

Chapter 8

            Time had passed once more. Taking advantage of Sephiroth's sudden appearance of sanity, Sasha spent most of her time taking it easy and asking him questions. Of course, just because Sephiroth was 'sane', didn't mean he was any less irritable. Which meant, sooner than later, he was sending her off again.   

            "But… but you said, you said I could take off as long as I wanted!" Sasha exclaimed, just as Sephiroth was explaining where she was going.

            "Yes, but you have overused that privilege. Now listen, you are going to go to a world called Wonderland," Sephiroth began explaining.

            "Oh, I wonder-wonder-wonder-wonder-" Sasha began singing, stopped when Sephiroth's glare reached her. She smiled at him, waved. He rolled his eyes and continued.

            "Once you're there, you will search for three people. They had been captured and hidden by the Heartless-" Sephiroth was interrupted by the impatient and a little pissed off Sasha, waving her arm in the air as if she were in grade school.

            "Um, Teacher? I still don't understand the whole 'We want to help the heartless so we fight them' thing? Why are we doing that, again?" Sasha asked. Sephiroth, as usual when faced with questions like these, ignored her and looked away.

            "You are looking for the three persons known as The Mad Hatter, The March Hare, and The Dormouse." Sephiroth looked back, and sighed, as Sasha was once again raising her hand. "Yes?"

            "Are those last two animals?" Sasha asked carefully.

            "Yes."

            "And I HAVE to find these three and un-capture them?"

            "Yes, you do."

            Sephiroth looked at her, and his voice took on a pitying tone.

            "Is that all right with you? I mean, if those instruction are a little too difficult for your miniscule brain to comprehend," he pulled a piece of paper and a pen out of Limbo's air, "I can write it down for you."

            Sasha growled at him, her wings bristling. Sephiroth snickered and continued, tossing the paper and pen away.

            "Now, be careful when you find them. From what I've heard, the Heartless have them holed up in different sections of a parallel-universe Wonderland." Sephiroth said, getting serious and looking Sasha in the eyes. "You must be **extremely** careful. This place that the Heartless have created, it is very dangerous. You must keep your wits, because if you don't, you might end up lost there yourself."

            "So basically I'm going kamikaze." Sasha sighed, "And for **what** reason, again?"

            "These three have the three pieces to a talisman. This talisman is very important to me, and it might end up being important to you too." Sephiroth crossed his arms, and although his eyes were on Sasha, they seemed slightly out of focus, as if he were looking at something else at the same time.

            "Important? What kind of important?" Sasha asked.

            "Get the pieces and I'll tell you." Sephiroth bargained. Sasha looked at him for a second, but nodded, curiosity getting the better of her. 

            "Fine." Sasha secured her axe and looked at him. "Anything I should know about the locals?"

            "Let's see, if you need help, talk to a flower. Except for the snapdragons and tiger lilies. Watch out for those, they bite. Now, if you run into any animals, only listen to the Chesire Cat. Even so, be careful because what he says isn't always what it seems. And watch out for the cards, they serve the queen and attack intruders." Sephiroth thought some more, then shrugged. "That's about it, I think."

            "Gee, I just can't wait for this field trip to start! I'll get to be attacked by cards and flowers and everything!" Sasha said sarcastically, grabbing the stone around her neck.

            "Oh, and if you get lost, look for the caterpillar. Or is he a butterfly now?" Sephiroth mused, looking off. Sasha gave him a half-questioning, half-skeptical look. He looked back at her, sighed.

            "I guess it won't matter much, once you get to that other side. It's probably all different there." Sephiroth waved her on. "Now go. The sooner you get there the sooner you'll get back."

            "Hmph. Maybe I'll just stay there extra-long and prove you wrong." Sasha said crossly. Without a last look she thought Wonderland to the stone and was whisked off.

            Sephiroth glared at the empty spot where she had been standing.

            "I didn't get to say bye." He muttered irritably. All of a sudden his eyes narrowed and he glared to the side, as if someone had just laughed at him. He growled angrily and went to sit by a wall.

            In Wonderland, Sasha found herself being force fed something out of a bottle. 

            "What the?! Hey! Get that away from me!" She tried to shake off what seemed to be a multitude of green, leafy worms.

            "Relax, honey, we're just trying to help," A voice spoke from her right.

            "That's right. Without this, you wouldn't be able to stay here for long. You'd be too big." Another voice spoke, this time from her left.

            Sasha calmed down and the 'worms' released her. She sat down and looked around, hoping to see just who had spoken. All she saw was grass, a few rocks, and two daisies.

            "Um…" Sasha blinked, not quite sure just what was happening. The two daisies were normal size, she was sure. But then why were they at eye-level?

            "Now here honey, finish this and you'll be good to go." The daisy to her right said, holding out a bottle to her on one leaf.

            "You…you just… talked." Sasha stared at the daisy in disbelief. Sephiroth told her to ask flowers for help, but she never thought that it was true.

            "Of course she talked. All of us can talk." The other daisy spoke up, waving a leaf towards the farther regions where more flowers gathered.

            "Oh." Sasha took the bottle from the first daisy, but didn't drink from it. "Why… why are you helping me?"

            "We heard you've come to free The Three." The daisy on her left said. 

            "Are they important?" Sasha asked.

            "Oh, very important. At least, they were when the stars started falling. The Queen made them her advisers!" The daisy nodded.

            "Yes she did! And now that the heartless have been here, and might come back, she needs them! But since they're hidden away, there's no one to advise her." The daisy on her right said.

            "M-hm. And the White Rabbit, he's a nice little fellow, but he's not at all made for advising." The second daisy added.

            "True. He's a little too jumpy, I think." The first daisy said.

            "Wait, you heard that I was going to come here?" Sasha gripped the bottle tightly. "Who… who told you?"

            "Why, the Cheshire Cat." The second daisy answered.

            "He said a girl was going to come who'd free 'The Three'?" Sasha asked skeptically.

            "Well, honey, now that you mention it, he didn't say it quite like that. But what he did say did mean it. I'm sure." The first daisy nodded.

            "What happens if I don't get them back?" Sasha asked.

            "Well, the Queen would probably have all our heads for it!" The second daisy exclaimed.

            "And yours too, most likely." The first daisy added.

            "Okay, that serves as motivation." Sasha, not wanting to lose her head, tipped the bottle and drank what was in it. In seconds she was smaller than the daisies.

            "Um, is it supposed to work like this?" Sasha stood up, now face to face with the daisies.

            "Yes, honey. You're good to go now." The daisy seemed happy.

            "Good luck. And steer clear of those Heartless. Nasty little buggers, they are." The second daisy waved her leaf in warning.

            "I will. Well, thanks for your help." Sasha said, "Um, do you know where I might start?"

            "Look for the Tea Party Garden. I think that'll be a good place to start." The daisy nodded, and Sasha started off.

            She found her way to the garden pretty soon, running into a few groups of heartless along the way. Her training sessions with Sephiroth were paying off, though, and she found it much easier to fight them off this time around. In fact, it seemed, almost, tedious, to some extent.

In the garden, she stood around the table for a while, looking around. Then she noticed it.

A painting hung over the table, with a sad looking man in a hat and a sad looking rabbit in it. 

            "That's weird." Sasha got closer to it, looking hard at the painting. She leaned over the table at it, wondering at the awesome detail and thinking that it really didn't look like paint at all. 

            Suddenly, something behind her shook. She turned around quickly but saw nothing. Puzzled, she looked back—and found the frame empty. Not only that, it was open. She reached out a hand to check for glass, but instead it went straight through what should have been the picture. 

            She pulled it out quickly, looked at the picture intently. Now that she really looked, the background wasn't the same as what had been behind the two figures before. She took a breath, reached her hand out again, and reached past the frame. Just as she was about to pull her arm out again, something grabbed her and pulled her in.

            Darkness surrounded her for a second, and although she tried to roll to her feet and stand up, she discovered that she couldn't. What she had thought was up wasn't, but it wasn't down either. She felt the floor, or the wall, or whatever it was, hard beneath her touch, but she couldn't push away from it. Abruptly, everything lurched. Gravity worked again and she felt herself collapse on what must have been the floor. Somewhere in the background the sound of something being wound up, like a toy, or maybe a music box, came. 

            Sasha pushed herself up, the darkness fading to a dim light. 

Whatever was being wound up grew silent. A whirring took its place, filling the air. 

            She opened her eyes, coughed on the dust that drifted up from the ground. Looking around, she cautiously got to her feet. She checked her pack, then her axe. Lastly she checked her wings. She started to stretch them, then found they caught on something. Not liking this place, not liking the fact that she couldn't move her wings, she struggled to look over her shoulder to see just what was keeping them tied up. As she did she noticed a dusty mirror standing not far from her. She walked up to it, slowly and cautiously, in case it was anything like the picture had been.

            Standing in front of it, her breath caught. The reflection, it was her, but… it was… it was so long ago…

            Something flashed, and she pulled back. Her breath came back, but she had to gasp to breath. There were two figures in the mirror now. The one she recognized… It was her, young, but her; that she knew. And she remembered, remembered that day. Her eyes focused on her eyes. 

            She was seven, the girl in the mirror reminded her, seven and waiting for someone to love. And no one came. 

            Sasha shuddered. She didn't want to look anymore, didn't want to hear her voice come from those silent lips.

            Seven, the girl went on, and made to wrap her wings. She kept tripping on them, remember? They were too big and she was too little. 

            Sasha reached an arm over her shoulder, felt the soft velvet that was holding her wings.

            Wrapped, and there were bells, the girl showed her, so they always knew it was her.

            So everybody would know.

            From somewhere behind her music began playing. She vaguely recognized it, taking a few seconds to register it. The Stone Roses ~ I Wanna Be Adored. The lyrics drifted listlessly through the air, hanging themselves like wreaths round her head.

            _I don't have to sell my soul…. He's already in me…_

            "But…" Sasha frowned at the words, "What does that have to do with me?" 

Her eyes drifting from the little girl's eyes to the taller figure behind her.

            _I don't have to sell my soul…. He's already in me…_

            As her eyes moved, she realized the black in the mirror came not from the background but from the figure itself. Small irregular patches were seen where the black stopped short of the mirrors edges, and even though Sasha's gaze traveled to them, her eyes were still pulled up, up. Past the black edges, past the long hair that fluttered lightly, darkly. Her eyes met those of the figure's; her breath escaped and didn't return.

            The yellow almonds pierced through the darkness, through her, shining fiercely like two suns. 

She took a faltering step back. 

The figure smiled, the lips twisting cruelly. 

She couldn't move, not anymore, not again.

The figure reached out, held out a hand, silky black in the darkness.

No, she mouthed. Still, she couldn't tear her gaze away from that shining light, from the darkly glowing orbs. Although her mind told her otherwise, she had the fearful feeling that the hand that was reaching to her would reach through the mirror, reach out and pull her in. 

But, it had nothing to do with her! Nothing at all… She cried desperately, silently. 

The figure smiled, the cruel lips twisting all the more, the hand still reaching out.

No, she thought, her hands moving to her face, no, she wouldn't lose it. Not here. Not now. Something came to her, she didn't know what. Some force came back to her, some force she had lost in her fall through the frame.

The figure paused, the lips untwisted into a sudden frown.

"No." With what grace was left her, Sasha swung her axe out from its holder and slashed at the mirror. The figure's eyes widened for a second, then it entirely faded. The young girl looked at her solemnly, as the blade cracked the glass. Looked at her with nothing, nothing in her eyes.

Nothing but pity.

It took a few seconds for Sasha to realize that the mirror was broken. It took her a few more to realize that there had been light in that mirror, light that was now shattered. She looked up at the remaining pieces of glass that stuck in the mirror. Something dripped from them, fell to the ground silently, staining it dark, darker than it already was.

She stepped forward, reached out a hand to touch, to feel what it was. The glass was surprisingly dull. And the liquid, that dripped steadily and fell slowly, surprisingly warm.

She brought the hand to her eyes, looking closely in the dim light at what it was stained with. She couldn't be quite sure, though, and brought a finger to her tongue.

Blood?

Her eyes widened, her back stiffened, and all went black.

When she came to she found herself wandering around a dark garden. A half-moon hung in the sky above her, blocked and unblocked as the tall grass swayed. There didn't seem to be a wind, and the only sound was the tinkling of the bells on her wings. She shivered, from what, she didn't know.

Out of the grass another noise came. Soft, so soft she almost missed it. She turned towards it, listened closely, heard it again. Walking forward, coming closer, she heard it grow louder, recognized it as a sleepy sort of weeping.

"Um, hello, anyone there?" She called, and the noise stopped with an abrupt hiss.

She stepped closer, pushed aside the tall grass to find a fuzzy creature, struggling to stick its head into a teakettle.

"Um, hello, are… are you okay?" Sasha said, walking closer. "Do you need some help?"

All the creature did was sob, hiccup, and sob again. She stepped closer, and realized that it wasn't trying to stick its head _into_ the teakettle, but was trying to get it out. Every time it pulled against the teakettle, the kettle shrank tighter around its head.

"Um, okay, hold on there…" Sasha glanced around, made her way through the grass to the creature. "You might not want to do that, it'll only make it worse."

"help me…" the creature squeaked, dropping its paws to the ground and swinging its head blindly in her direction.

"I will, I just need to figure out what to do." Sasha said, dropping to her knees and looking closer at the teakettle. "Do you know where we could find some butter?"

"BUTTER?!" Squeaked the creature, and dropped to the ground, sobbing. As it did, its tears filled the kettle and dripped out the spout, drying as soon as they did. "There's noooo butterrrrr…!"

Sasha stared at it for a second, then thought some more.

"Is there anything that's slippery? Even water or something?" Even as she spoke, the ground around them dried to dust, the grass faded to yellow and fell heavily to the ground.

"nononononononooo…" the creature sobbed.

"Can you break it?" Sasha asked.

"It…it's magicked. Can only pull it off, but it won't work!" The creature collapsed entirely onto the ground.

Sasha thought hard on it, but there seemed to be only one choice. She told the creature to calm down and stay still, then took out her axe. There was only one thing that she had that was slippery enough to get the kettle off.

"Okay, buddy, this is going to be a little weird, but, here goes nothing." She steadied the blade, braced herself, and pulled the blade lightly over the length of her arm. Without pause she held her arm over the creatures neck, where the kettle met fur, letting the blood coat the creatures neck.

She quickly cast a cure and went to smear the blood around the edge of the kettle.

"Wh-what did you do?" The creature asked quietly.

"Nothing, don't worry about it…" Sasha said, feeling the kettle start to slip. "Okay, brace yourself, its coming off."

The creature dug its paws into the ground, and Sasha pulled. With a loud pop, the kettle flew off and the creature was shaking its head.

"Thank you!" It said, and Sasha could now see it was some sort of mouse. It hiccupped and handed her something. "For saving me from… from those, those things… you may have this!"

Sasha grabbed what it was waving towards her, and the mouse faded away, and hopefully out of this forsaken land. She looked down at what was in her hand and saw it was a piece of something.

"The talisman…" She murmured, then put the piece in her pack carefully. Stretching her arm, which still ached from the now-healed cut, she took off through the garden once more, as the scenery around her faded and morphed.

She found herself in a type of funhouse, she guessed, as the walls were crooked, and made of mirrors. There was little light, and it seemed to come from holes in the floor.

"Mirrors…" She whispered worriedly, but on turning round she found only herself reflected back, with no shadows to be seen.

"What are you doing here?" A familiar voice reached her, and she turned to see Riku standing in one of the corridors.

"I could ask you the same," She answered facing him. He looked at her for a long moment.

"I asked first." He said, giving her a look.

"Fine." She sighed. "I'm supposed to be finding people. And setting them free and whatnot."

Riku looked at her intently, staying silent. She gave him a look.

"Well? And you?" She asked finally.

"I'm…I'm supposed to stop you." He said.

"Oh." Sasha responded. They stood there for a little while, looking at each other.

"Um, you sure its me? I mean, maybe there's different people trapped here, and someone else is supposed to come… or something…" Sasha fidgeted. 

"No, I'm pretty sure its you." Riku sighed. Sasha looked at him, intently for the first time.

"You… you're different…" She said, still looking at him. He raised a hand to his hair.

"What? I got the purple out…" He said, but she shook her head.

"No, it's not that. You're… there's something about you. You're different." She said, trying to figure it out. "Oh well. It doesn't matter."

Riku looked at her, dropping his hand and wondering at her words. Different? He didn't feel any different. He was sure he wasn't acting any different.

"Oh," Sasha said, deciding that now would be as good a time as ever, "Before we have to fight and knock each other silly, I just wanted to tell you I saw this kid named Sora, he said he was your friend and he's looking for you."

Riku looked at her, his eyes widened. Sora, looking for him? Why would he be doing that? He had new friends, he had a new job, why would he want to look for him?

He narrowed his eyes and Sasha was surprised by the sudden anger in them.

"Um… did I say something wrong?" She asked cautiously.

"No." Riku crossed his arms, looked at some other part of the corridor.

"Er…" Sasha began, not really knowing what to say.

"I saw him already. He's got other friends. He's busy." Riku said shortly. "He doesn't need me."

"But…" Sasha stopped, seeing she'd get nowhere. How much time had passed since she last saw Sora? What had happened? She took a step towards Riku, when suddenly he stiffened, looked around.

_That's right… he's got new friends… He doesn't need you anymore…_

            Riku glanced around at the corners of the corridors.

            "Riku? What is it?" Sasha said, looking around but not seeing anything.

            _And she'll be just the same, just like the rest of them…_

            Riku looked at Sasha out of the corner of his eye. The girl was looking intently into one of the mirrors, wondering what it was they were looking for.

            _Just like the rest of them… just when you think you'd all do something for each other… they'll let you drop… Leave you and never look back…_

            Riku didn't want to believe it, he didn't want to think it true, but it was, wasn't it? Didn't everyone forget about him? Didn't Sora find new friends? Wasn't he alone, again… all alone?

            _That's right… alone… that's what you'll be… you can't let them get to you… don't let her fool you too…_

            The hissing, whispering voice was right, he thought, it was very right. If he let her get close like everyone else did, she'd end up hurting him too. She'd end up leaving him the second she got a chance. He'd have to fix that. He'd have to make sure that she'd never do that to him, not like Sora did… not like they all did…

            _That's right… do it… now… take care of her… before… she takes care… of you…_

            "You know what…" Sasha said, staring at the mirror and thinking, "I think I'm starting to understand this place. All it does… is get inside your head. What do you think, Riku?"

            She turned to him, stopped short of asking her next question as her breath caught.

            Riku stood facing her, his eyes glistening coldly in the shifting light. Sasha took a step back as he took one forward, his hand pulling out the demon-winged blade and aiming it at her.

            "R-Riku… what's going on?" Sasha said, backing away as he advanced on her. There was a strange look in his eyes, and the feeling that she had felt so lightly before was overwhelming her. This wasn't Riku, she thought, this can't be! She took out her axe, holding it in a defensive position, although she didn't want to use it. She took another step back, and ran into something. 

            It wasn't a mirror, she was sure, and she couldn't quite figure out what it was. The corridor had been empty, she was sure of it. Not wanting to turn her back on Riku, she instead put her back to a wall, now being able to see in both directions.

            She wasn't quite sure if she should've been happy… or scared.

            Another Riku stood, gazing at the first one with a look of mild contempt. The first Riku stopped, glancing from the new one to Sasha and back. He seemed to be contemplating what to do in this situation. Finally he decided that the newcomer was none of his business and moved towards Sasha again.

            "Um…" Sasha shrank back against the mirror. As soon as she did, something reached out and pulled her in.

            The first Riku growled at that, stood up straight, put the sword away, then suddenly collapsed onto the floor, holding his head.

            "What… what the hell… what was I doing?" He whispered, more to himself, as he had forgotten that the other Riku was there.

            "Hmph. Weak." The other Riku said, although it didn't seem like his lips had moved.

            Riku's head shot up, and he stared at his double, then got up and glared at him defiantly.

            "Who are you?" He asked.

            "I'm you, or at least you when you still had a backbone." The double said arrogantly.

            "What do you mean?" Riku said angrily. "I still have a backbone."

            "Sure you do." The double walked forward, and Riku found he couldn't move. "That's why you almost attacked the girl, right? Even though you didn't want to, even though you told yourself no, you still went for it, all because you have a backbone, right?"

            Riku still glared at the double, but he knew it was right. He hadn't wanted to attack her, but he'd almost done it anyway, all because of a stupid voice in his head. The double was smiling at him, but it wasn't a smile he liked. Its eyes held no warmth, and as it drew closer he wondered if this was how he looked when Sasha told him he looked different.

            "You almost attacked her. You would've won, you know. She didn't want to hurt you and she'd do her best not to. You would've won so easily. But that's alright," the double was getting quite close now, and Riku found himself getting scared. "Its alright, because soon you'll be doing much more horrible things, much greater, horrible things. And this will be nothing compared to them."

            "But… but I won't… I can't." Riku tried to pull back, even though he knew it was useless. "I can't… I get it now, you're the part of a person that makes them do things they don't want to do…"

            "Yes. And?" The double stopped in front of him.

            "Where… where's my voice of reason, then?" Riku asked, unnerved by the look in his double's eyes.

            "I'll let you in on a little secret…" The double whispered, leaning until his face was only an inch away from Riku's. "You don't have one."

            Sasha found herself in a small room, surrounded on all sides by mirrors. The room itself seemed to be one that revolved, and the mirrors were split in three horizontally.

            "Oh, are you okay?" 

            Sasha turned to see the head of a man in a large top hat looking at her worriedly. The two bottom mirrors were empty.

            "Yeah, um, where am I?" She asked, looking around the room. There were eight sides to the room, but only three pieces of the mirror were filled. One top one with the man's head, one middle one with his body and hands, and one bottom one with his feet. The floor held a multitude of levers, just as many as there were mirror pieces.

            "This room is made up of mirrors, just like the rest of this house." The man said. "I can move through the mirrors, but I can't leave them, at least not with all of myself."

            "So you're the one who pulled me through the mirror." Sasha said, turning to him. "So, how do I get you out?"

            "Well, you stand in the middle of the levers. The mirror you face will capture an image of you and hold it. When you push or pull a lever, the room will rotate." The man said, his hands wringing themselves.

            "Okay, that sounds easy. I just have to put you back together.

            "Yes. Now see, the lever in the middle resets the entire thing and messes everything up, so only pull that if you're really stumped. But…" The man continued, his tone growing slightly sad. " There is a catch. Once you complete me, you yourself will be split among the mirrors, and you'll end up caught in here like I am now."

"What?" Sasha exclaimed, then calmed down a bit. "But, I have to try, at least. I can't leave you here."

And plus, she added silently, I have to find a way out, so I could find Riku and figure out what this place had done with him.

So Sasha made her way to the middle of the room and stood on a giant 'x'. The mirrors she faced copied her image, and she was shocked to see that, unlike in any ordinary mirror, the image didn't move but remained still. 

It took her a good quarter of the hour to figure out what lever did what, and soon she was spinning them with efficiency. Each lever took thirty seconds to start up, so that the mirrors didn't move for that time. In another twenty minutes she had the man set up, and herself spread across the room.

"Now, how does this work?" She asked, standing in the middle of the room.

"As soon as you pull me out, a hole will appear that leads us out of here. But, as soon as I'm out of here, you'll get pulled into the mirrors and will stay trapped." The man said.

"Hmph. I doubt that." Sasha said, feeling very sure of herself. She flipped a lever and raced forward.

"But… But that's the reset lever!" The man cried. The seconds were ticking by.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing!" Sasha said, and reached out a hand. She grabbed the man and pulled him out, his last foot leaving the mirror just as the room started to spin.

"But, you'll be trapped, and…" The man's voice faded as he watched the room come to a stop.

"But I pulled the lever while you were still in the mirror. Which made the room think that all it had to do was to go back to how it was in the beginning." Sasha said, and the room came to a stop.

"So… it returns to the beginning…" The man said, watching in wonder. "And makes you… whole."

Sasha looked at her completed mirror puzzle with pride.

"That's right! No mirror trap for me." She grabbed the man and pulled him into the hole in the floor. Once out, he thanked her gratefully and, like the dormouse before him, left her with a piece of the talisman.

"I'll see you on the outside!" He said, and faded away.

"Next piece." Sasha said, putting it away. "Now, we look for the March Hare… and Riku…"

She took off into the darkness.

It took her quite some time find the hare, although all the way she looked for signs of Riku, but she didn't find any. What she did find, however, was a giant dirt racing track, and at the very end, gleaming softly, was the frame.

"Wow. Am I almost at the end?" Sasha wondered out loud.

"Sure are. All you have to do is beat the tortoise, and you're out." A voice spoke from the track next to her. "Shouldn't be a problem for you."

She turned to see a hare, bouncing from foot to foot, looking at her jealously.

"What do you mean? Can't you beat the tortoise too?" She asked him.

"Sure… if I didn't have magic on me. If I take more than five steps at once, I fall asleep. And If I fall asleep too long, the tortoise gets to the frame, and I get sent back to the beginning." The hare said sadly, stopping his bouncing and sitting on the ground.

"Wait, its if you, yourself, take the steps, right?" Sasha asked.

"Yes," The hare muttered.

"Well, what if I pull you?" Sasha said.

"Why… that might work!" He stood up, and then looked at her. He was face to face with her, and seemed to be heavier than the girl too. "Um, do you think you can do it?"

"I can… try…" Sasha said. She fastened her axe tightly and got ready. "Now, what do I pull you by?"

"My shoulders?" The hare said. "Just not my ears. Or my tail."

"You got it. I'll try." Sasha grabbed hold of his shoulders, and pulled. He moved a few inches.

"Well, that isn't bad. You're pretty strong for a little girl like you." The hare said, patting her on the back gratefully.

"Yeah, lets hope I move fast enough." Sasha said.

After about an hour of pulling, they only seemed to be half the way to the frame, and Sasha was very tired.

"Okay, we gotta think of something else." Sasha wheezed.

"You're right. We're not really moving that fast, are we? And the tortoise is coming." The hare looked towards the beginning of the track.

Sasha sat and thought for a while, leaning back against the hare's back.

"I got an idea." She said, getting up suddenly. The hare, with no cushion for his back, fell backwards, looked up at her crossly.

"What?" He asked, standing up.

"The magic only works if you touch the ground, right?" Sasha asked, turning to him.

"Yes." He said, looking at her closely. "Why?"

"Well, I have a magic spell, called Aero. It creates a shield of wind that throws off anything that hits it. If you can hop just right, and I can run just right, then you can bounce off that all the way to the end!" Sasha said, excitedly.

"Why, that's a grand idea!" The hare bounced in place happily.

So Sasha cast aero on herself and started to run, the hare bouncing gleefully off the air shield. At one point aero disappeared, and the hare almost crashed into Sasha, but she managed to cast it once more. And they took off for the frame, with the tortoise close behind. At least, the hare said he was close behind.

They made it to the frame, and a loud gong sounded. The track crumbled into the ground it was drawn in, and created a low, deep hole.

"Well, I guess all that's left is to get out the frame. Oh, before I leave, I want you to have this." The hare said, handing Sasha the last piece of the talisman. "I hope it comes in handy for you."

"Thanks." Sasha took the piece and put it away with her other pieces. The hare turned to the frame and gasped.

"It's closing!" He exclaimed, and dashed to it.

"Oh no! We have to get out now!" Sasha raced to the frame, then stopped, whispered. "Riku…"

"Sasha! Wait!" 

She turned to see Riku struggling to get to them, a sea of writhing mechanical tentacles holding him back. She turned to the frame, saw the dormouse and Mad Hatter on the other side.

"Hold it open!" She called, and they, along with the hare, gave her looks that bordered on 'what-are-you-insane?'

"Hurry up!" The hatter said, as all three struggled to keep the frame from disappearing.

Sasha turned around and dashed to where Riku was struggling, being pulled down by the tentacles. She pulled out her axe and started swinging it through the tentacles, cutting them away until Riku could get free.

"Take my hand! Quick!" She said, reaching out to him. He grabbed her arm and she pulled him out. They raced to where the frame was, the hare still on inside.

"Go!" Sasha pushed both the hare and Riku at the frame, and they fell out. She squeezed through the swiftly shrinking hole after them as the world behind her imploded, and landed on a heap on the table.

            They were out.

            It was night in the garden. Sasha was sitting on top of a boulder, staring up at the sky. Riku sat on the ground, leaning back against the boulder and staring broodingly at the ground.

            "Sasha…" He started, stopped. She looked down at him, waiting. "I'm… I'm sorry, for what happened… I…"

            He stopped, not knowing how to explain what had happened. It wasn't often that he apologized to people. But then again, it wasn't often that he turned homicidal and tried to kill people, either.

            "Its… I know, the place gets inside your head. It messes it all up." Sasha said softly, watching him.

            "Still…" He tried to say something, say it wasn't all right. He found he couldn't say anything.

            Sasha slid down off the boulder and sat down, her back to him.

            "Riku, can you help me get this off? Damn thing's making my wings itch." She said, looking at him over her shoulder.

            He grinned slightly, unhooked the clasps that held the velvet wrapped around her wings and pulled it off. He held it for a second, unsure of what to do with it. Sasha turned to him.

            "I'll take it." She said, taking it out of his hands.

            "You sure you want to keep that?" Riku asked, not sure why anyone would want to keep a reminder of that place.

            "Yeah…" Sasha said, holding it. She put it in her pack and looked at him, smiled. "And as far as I know, I didn't see you or even know you were here."

            "I must have come to late, the frame was closed and The Three were already back." Riku responded. "Maleficent should learn to get her timing right.

            They both grinned at each other, and then leaned back against the boulder and looked up at the sky.

            Until…

            "Sasha?" Riku asked, his voice quiet.

            "Yeah?" She continued to look at the stars.

            "When… when you said I looked different… what did you mean?" He looked at her from the corner of his eye.

            "Well…" Sasha paused to think. "It was just… You just seemed different. Like it wasn't you. Or, it was you, but it wasn't all you. It was… I don't know."

            She looked at him. He seemed a little worried.

            "You okay?" She asked.

            "What? Yeah, I'm fine." He said, then stood up. "I better get going."

            "Okay… I'll see you… probably… most likely in some deadly situation where one of us is about to die…" Sasha said, waving to him. He lifted an eyebrow, turned and left the garden.

            "I wonder..." She thought aloud, looking up at the stars, thinking of the war being waged against them. "I wonder…Why do we do this? All of this? I mean, is life so great, is death so frighteningly horrible that we would rather fight and kill than die? Is it so wonderful that we'd work against what we know is right just to survive?"

            She paused, shook her head. With a sigh, she touched the stone

            And all was left to darkness.

Yes, joy of joys, Riku was here. What? Of course I needed him here! I had to do somwthing with him, especially when it meant I could show just a little of his thoughts. And once again, NO SASHA X RIKU, none! I'm trying to make this a no-relationship-er. They're just friends, bordering on good friends eventually, considering they have so much in common (the whole working-for-someone-I-don't-wanna-work-for thing). Sooo… Unless people really give me a reason to, there will be absolutely no relationships. Which I like. I like them as friends better. And, considering I know exactly how this is going to end, even though the end isn't written, I've already written the Epilogue. It'll be like a dream-thing. I like it. It sets up a sequel, if people want it to continue. If not, then its an interesting ending all by itself.

Now, does anyone here listen to AFI? Anyone hear "Death of Seasons" by them? Anyone else agree that it sounds like someone from Kingdom Hearts? Anyone? Or am I just too addicted? (to both AFI and Kingdom Hearts) What do you think? Check it out…

Thanks to:

Blue Fox4: Blame the damn Internet provider for my god-awful update times. Grrr… *grins* Thanks for reading my story. It makes me happy to know people like it.

Slinkster Sunshine: Thank you for your continued reading. *grins* I'm loved! wOOt! And the Sephy slash Sasha, I dunno. I wrote part of one of the last few chapters before I ever started this, and… well, we'll see if I put it in or not. But I'm trying to do the impossible: what's that? Have absolutely no relationships! Yay! *gets stoned by passerbys* Urg… yes, but once again, thank you for coming back. And good luck with Wilson. *grins* 

Ari Powwel: Thank you for keeping pace with the story. All your reviews mean a lot. A real lot. Thank you so many times over. And you deserve more cookies. And popcorn. Lots of popcorn. And whack James on the head for good measure. No reason. Just whack him. And then give him a cookie.  

Thank you everyone once again. So tell me, should I just skip Agrabah and Olympus and go straight to Neverland, or should I visit those two? And where to next? I have a vague idea, but a little help would be nice… and hey, if you want something to happen bad enough, tell me, I just might put it in.

And anyone who can spot the reference for the '"Oh, I wonder-wonder-wonder-wonder-" Sasha began singing' part wins ten points. And a cookie. And some cheese puffs. ^ - ^ I have way too much fun with these notes. Muaahahahahaaa! COCOA!! *runs off like the freak she is*


	10. Poem

This has been a very very bad time. No updates for so long, and then this crappy little thing. I'm sorry. College has started and I have to adjust to the new time schedule and such. I'll try writing between classes, that could work…

Anyway, each stanza stands for someone major to the story, meaning THIS story. Well, okay, so one has barely been mentioned, but I though that they should be here. Try to figure out who's who. One is way to easy, oh well…

Brush the wings against the glass,

The world cracks to nothing,

Burst forth to darkness-

The wings escape.

Tread the water softly,

Touch the end where it flows no more,

See the darkness claim the ocean-

Fall lost into the night stars.

Walk gently past the trees,

Feel the wind flow past the birds,

Reach away from darkness in their cries-

Lose yourself to hope.

Run across the sandy shore,

Watch the sun set radiant ruby in the west,

Darkness claiming the shimmer from the sky-

Shine through to new life.

A new chapter coming soon, I promise. Please, don't hurt me… *hides*


	11. Coliseum : Pt 1

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts: Not mine. Phil? Not mine. Cloud? (no matter how many times I wish) Not mine. Sasha? Mine, but not in that sick sense. You sick sick people you. 

A.N. Oh Boy, this took forever to do, I'm sorry. Stupid college had to start up. *growls and kicks College* Bad College, Bad!  Anyways, yes, chapter 9 is up. I don't know… I like it, I think. No Riku though, but there's going to be more of him to come. And Sora. Don't worry, he hasn't disappeared.

I hope you enjoy this. I was wondering when to do this, and I thought this would be the best time. I'll explain more next chapter.

Chapter 9

         Sasha lay on her back, staring up at the inky darkness that made up Limbo's sky. She twirled the stone containing the spirit of the Mountain beast on the ground with one hand, not really paying attention to it. 

         "Sephiroth?" She asked suddenly, "Why do you only have one wing?"

         The man glanced over at her from where he was sitting on an old armchair.

         "Because, I am not complete." He answered, went back to turning the pages of a musty old book that had appeared along with the chair.

         "Not complete? What do you mean?" Sasha propped herself up on one arm.

         "The scientist who… _experimented_… on me… created others like myself, using the cells from my mother, Jenova." Sephiroth began, and realizing that this would take some time, hung the book over the arm of the chair in order to keep his place. "The scientist predicted that at some point in time, all the cells of Jenova would seek each other out and join together. He called it The Reunion."

         "And? Did it happen?" Sasha asked, stopping the spinning stone.

         "Yes… but not perfectly. All of the clones had returned, all but one…" Sephiroth sighed. "So when the time came for me to begin my ascent, I was only partially complete, and could not achieve true perfection."

         "So… what about this other clone?" Sasha asked. She wasn't unnerved by his talk of 'achieving true perfection'; it's just something you eventually get used to.

         "He refuses to join me. So he must be eliminated in order for me to use the essence of the cells. Otherwise, I can never ascend." Sephiroth said. Sasha looked at him for a moment.

         "Is he that one that killed you on that mountain thing?" She asked, and Sephiroth sighed.

         "Yes, he's 'that one', as you put it." He looked at her, eyes narrowed. "Don't you have something you could be doing? Some place to go? Someone else to annoy?"

         Sasha stuck her tongue out at him.

         "If I did, don't you think I'd be gone already?" She huffed, swiveled around and sat cross-legged, her back towards him. She started playing with the stone again, rolling it from hand to hand on the ground. Sephiroth glared at her for a moment, then with a sigh picked up the book again.

         A little while later she turned back to him, a quizzical look on her face.

         "So, what was that amulet thing for, anyway?" She asked.

         "The amulet…" Sephiroth began again, a little harshly, annoyed at being interrupted again. "The amulet has an awesome power. It would have helped us both greatly…"

         "There's a 'but', isn't there?" Sasha said.

         "But, it unfortunately is not responding to my attempts to unlock its power." Sephiroth said, getting a perplexed look in his eyes.

         "So, basically, I went there, almost lost my mind, and all for three pieces of a stupid amulet that won't even work?" Sasha growled. Sephiroth turned to her.

         "What's wrong with you? You seem so..." Sephiroth began, met her icy glare, "On edge."

         "Nothing's wrong with me." Sasha turned away again, fluttering her wings angrily.

         This was all very confusing to Sephiroth, who wasn't used to the girl being anything other than annoying. 

         "There's something wrong." He stated.

         "No there isn't." She stated back.

         There was a pause as each waited to see who would speak first.

         "So…" Sasha said finally, breaking the silence. "Is there anything you want me to do? People to kill? World's to destroy?"

         Sephiroth sighed, turned away from her. What to do? Was there anything more he **could do? Was there any use in this?**

         "Sephiroth?" Sasha said, turning to him, and he realized that there had been quite a moment of silence.

         "Nothing. There's nothing." Sephiroth turned to her slightly. "If you want you can go to some other world."

         "What's left?" Sasha asked, happy that he hadn't pushed the subject of her being 'on edge'. 

         "Well, there's the Coliseum in Olympus." Sephiroth answered.

         "A Coliseum? The kind where people fight against each other and they have animals and all that stuff?!" Sasha exclaimed, jumping up, and for a moment Sephiroth couldn't figure out if it was from anger or happiness. Then she smiled. "Ohhh… can I go? Pleeeease… I'll be good, I'll promise. I won't interrupt the fights or start hitting people for blocking my view or throw popcorn at the really annoying fighters or-"

         "Alright, alright already. Just go." Sephiroth said, unable to stand her superfast speech at the moment.

         "Thank you thank you thank you!" Sasha dashed over to where her axe was and put it in its harness. "Just in case, you never know."

         "Just… be careful." Sephiroth said.

         "Aren't I always?" Sasha said, and with a wave was gone.

         "That's a good question…" Sephiroth muttered. He looked off into the darkness for a moment, then turned to the book in his hands.

         It was an old album, containing pictures of a group of friends, growing up together, going out together. Many, so many of them focused on the same silver haired boy.

         Sephiroth snapped the album shut suddenly, glared at the words imprinted on the front.

         _My Friends, Best and Greatest: Anastasia Starler_

         With a feral roar he stood up and flung the album into the darkness, then collapsed back into a heap on the velvet armchair.

         Sasha found herself wandering about in front of the coliseum. She glanced up at some of the statues and then made her way into the entrance of the coliseum. There were noises coming from the roped off hallway, and, curious, she climbed past them and crept closer. Soon she was able to make out words.

         "So, it is possible to call anyone to come and fight?" The first voice asked.

         "Even the gods themselves." A second voice, a little gruff, answered. "Why do you want ta know?"

         There was a silence.

         "C'mon, there's gotta be a reason." The second voice insisted.

         Sasha crept a little closer to the opening of the hallway to hear better.

         "There's someone I want to call to fight…" The first voice began.

         "Yeah? C'mon, you can tell me. I'll get them for you, no problem." The second voice answered.

         "His name… is Sephiroth."

         Sasha squeaked. Sephiroth? He wanted to call Sephiroth? To fight him? Who was this person? She wondered, could it have been…?

         But her thoughts were caught short by the fact that suddenly she was pulled out of her hiding space and standing in front of the two people.

         "Now who are you? And what're you doing, nosing around other people's business?" The gruff voiced belonged to a goatman. He stood in front of her, wagging his finger admonishingly at her.

         But it wasn't him she was looking at. She was looking at the other person. This man was blonde, shorter than Sephiroth, but he had that same shiny glint in his eyes that Sephiroth had, something Sasha was sure didn't come from insanity. His left hand seemed to be made of metal, and a gigantic sword was strapped to his back. Not only that, she could barely make out the black feathers of the wing he was trying to hide behind his cape.

         Sephiroth's wing was on his left side.

         This man's was on his right.

         It was him.

         She almost squeaked again, but by then the goat-man's words had penetrated her shock, and she quickly decided answering him to be most conducive to the prolonging of her life.

         "Er… I came… to see a fight…" She said stutteringly, her wings fluttering nervously.

         "Did ya miss the sign? There's no public fights, not until we fix up the rest of the seats…" The goat-man shook his head and muttered something about a 'demon dog from hell'. "so you're just gonna have to wait, kid."

         "Okay. Um, sorry… I'll leave. Now." Sasha said, then turned and walked down the hallway. The second she was out of their sight, she took off running out the doors, and slid to a stop, clutching the stone around her neck.

         "This can't be good."

         "Hmph. Strange kid." Phil said, then turned back to Cloud, who was still looking after the girl, his eyes narrowed. "So, you still want that fight?"

         Cloud took a second to answer, looked at Phil.

         "Today."

         "Er, are you sure? You had that run in with that dog a few weeks ago and the coliseum's still not in tip top shape, I don't know if-"

         "Today." Cloud interrupted, his voice firm.

         "R…right. Today." Phil said, unnerved by the sudden ferocity in the man's eyes. "You just sit down for a bit, I'll… I'll go get… the stuff…"

         Phil left in a slow hurry, deciding not to try to talk the man out of it any further.

         Cloud turned his gaze back to the hallway. That girl… did she know something? Had she gone to warn Sephiroth? No. He was probably just being overly paranoid. He should stop from thinking about it, it was just some accident on her part.

         Besides, he had the fight to think about.

Thanks to:

Bluefox, who has disappeared. That was strange. If you're still around, thanks for your continued reading.

Sunnie: Thank you for that review. I'm not **that amazing. *humble* I loved that chapter tho. You were the Mad Hatter? Did you have the hat with the card in it and tea cups and everything? And were you nice to that Dormouse?**

Have some cookies. They might help that slushbrain of yours. And if not, they taste good. ^-^

And yes, I'm taking some writer's license with Sephy's back story. More to come next time.

Laters everyone. I'll be back soon. Hopefully. Blerk.

Meanwhile, why not go enjoy yourself at www .wickedtribe .net . The forums are fun. Really. Look for the Freak Dragon (that's me) and say hi. We're nice. Usually. And we don't bite. Much. ^-^


	12. Coliseum: Pt2 : Showdown

Disclaimer : KH is not mine. Sephiroth is not mine. Cloud is not mine. Riku is not mine. The Masamune is definitely not mine, no matter how many times I attempt to steal it.

AN: Yes. This chapter. First of all, I don't know if you guys will like it. I did. I really really want to finish because I have the epilogue all ready and if you guys like this story and the epilogue, then by golly I'll make a sequel. If not, the epilogue can stand alone. I guess. ^-^

Moogles. Yes, they are here. What are they doing? Teleporting? Well, obviously, those in Traverse Town are working on different kinds of items and such, you can't say that they might not want to try a teleporting device. BTW, I know almost nothing about Moogles. 

Cloud and Sephiroth. I don't know if I really like their opening lines to each other and such, but I think they're okay. And yes, I did put some of my own thoughts into Sephiroth's words, how'd you guess?

I hate Aeris.

What the…? Damn subconscious, always messing up my writing. *grumbles* Anyway, on with the show!

***

Chapter 10

            The first thing Sasha did when getting back to Limbo was grab Sephiroth by the arm, nearly pulling him off his feet in her urgency.

            "What is wrong with you?!" Sephiroth growled, trying to pull his arm out of her grasp.

            "Guy… fight… you…" Sasha whimpered.

            "What? What about a fight? What are you talking about?" Sephiroth said impatiently.

            "There's this guy. He's blonde, he's that guy that you told me about, he-" Sasha stopped to catch her breath. "I went to the coliseum, and heard him talking to this goat-guy freak, and he said he wanted to fight you."

            "And? That doesn't seem very probable, considering where I'm stuck." Sephiroth said, without any worry at all.

            "The goat-freak said he could call anyone!" Sasha insisted.

            "Really?" Sephiroth said, unconvinced.

            "Even the gods, he said!" Sasha shook his arm harshly at each word.

            "Still, why, again, are we so worried?" Sephiroth asked tiredly, finally managing to get his arm free.

            "Because… because… the blonde guy, he looked… scary…" Sasha muttered that last, realizing that it would sound like a very stupid reason to Sephiroth.

            She was right. The man rolled his eyes and sighed.

            "Please. If everyone just ran away from everything that looked 'scary', there would never be any progress made. And I refuse to believe that this idiot could look scary enough to lead you to believe that I would have any trouble in a fight against him."

            Sasha looked at him, and had to agree. It was her first time seeing the blonde, and he scared her only because she wasn't expecting to see him looking like that. It was the same kind of scared feeling she had when she had first seen Sephiroth.

            "Yeah, well… still… he's got this huge sword, and…" Sasha began, but Sephiroth raised an eyebrow at this and she knew it was another useless attempt. "But still, don't go, I have a bad feeling about this."

            "Bad feeling, hm? Still, is this feeling bad enough to dissuade me from going to fight and possibly destroy one of the major blocks to my plan?" Sephiroth asked. Sasha knew he was going to say that.

            "I'm not going to be able to convince you not to go, am I?" Sasha asked dejectedly.

            "No. But look at it this way, this will be one less thing for you to do." Sephiroth said, and suddenly the Masamune was in his hand. "At least I know what to expect now and can prepare. When was he going to call me?"

            "Er, sometime today, he said." Sasha said, sitting down on the floor and watching Sephiroth check the blade of his sword.

            "Impatient." Sephiroth muttered, then chuckled. "Ah well, the sooner its over with the better."

            Sasha glanced up at him, this seeming not quite the kind of thing Sephiroth would say. He noticed her glance and looked at her.

            "Not the fight. The wait. The fight's going to be nice and long…" Sephiroth grinned. 

            Sasha shook her head. Keeping the guy in Limbo for so long without any real fights was making him real vicious, she knew. The last training sessions had been getting quite…strenuous, to say the least, and she tried every excuse she knew of to get out of them.

            "You sure about this?" Sasha asked, although now that she thought about it, Sephiroth seemed to be the favorite in the upcoming fight.

            "Why wouldn't I be?" Sephiroth answered, taking a few practice swings. He turned to her and grinned, a little maniacal but pure happy. He was going to fight and he was going to love it.

            Sasha sighed.

            "Fine." She said.

            There was a sudden sparkle around Sephiroth, and he stopped and looked at it. It seemed he was listening to something, and shrugged.

            "Well, I guess this is it." He said. He made as if to walk into the sparkle, then stopped and turned to Sasha. "Stay here."

            "What?" She asked, surprised.

            "Stay here. Who knows what might happen, you'll be safer here." Sephiroth said, then stepped through the sparkling portal.

            "But…" Sasha started, but he was already gone. She glared at the empty spot for a moment. Then sighed. "'Stay here' 'you'll be safer'… hmph."

            She stared at the ground for a while.

            "Screw that." She grabbed the stone around her neck.

            The wind rose, fell. There was a sensation in it, an anxious rustling that matched both fighters' feelings at the moment. They looked at each other for a long moment, stared each other down like wolves. 

            "Sephiroth." The blond said, his eyes cold with hatred. The other man tilted his head to the side a little, smiled a little.

            "Cloud." Sephiroth said, "Long time no see. How are you?"

            "Shut up, Sephiroth." Cloud said impatiently. "I didn't come here for small talk."

            "Of course not... You always did like to talk big." 

            Cloud narrowed his eyes in a glare, and Sephiroth grinned more, a little icily this time.

            "You know why I called you here..." Cloud said, taking down the Buster Sword and readying it.

            "Still depressed about your girlfriend? How precious..." Sephiroth's eye's glinted dangerously. "Boyfriend comes to get revenge."

            Cloud gripped his sword hilt tightly, his eyes nearly glowing with anger.

            "You know, if I were her," Sephiroth said conversationally, pulling the Masamune from the air and readying it also, and then chuckling, "I would have stuck to... 'selling' my 'flowers'... if that's what she really did in those alleys..."

            At those words Cloud growled and lunged forward, his blade slicing the air next to Sephiroth as the other man dodged to the left.

            "Bastard..." Cloud hissed, " This time I'll make sure you stay dead..."

            "Go ahead and try." Sephiroth answered with a smirk, parried and advanced the attack.

            Sasha blinked, looked around. Darkness surrounded her and she wondered if she hadn't succeeded in leaving Limbo at all. 

            KAPOOF!

            "What in the world?" Sasha turned around and saw a beam of light. Following its light to the side, she noticed a pair of white creatures with little pink wings standing around a small machine. They were talking quickly about something.

            "This doesn't seem right at all, kupo." One creature said.

            "There must be something wrong with the positioning system, I think, kupo." The other said. 

            There was a sudden clang of metal, and the two creatures turned to where the light was streaming from. Their eyes, which normally looked like squinting lines, grew wide, and without another word they flicked a switch on the machine and with another KAPOOF were gone.

            "That... was strange..." Sasha said, stepping forward. The metal-on-metal sounds were growing louder as she approached where the light was. She came up a portcullis, with two-inch wide bars. Looking through them, she gasped.

            There was a flash off metal, and the swords connected again. Both fighters pulled apart, and she saw that although there was no blood, the slashes were getting close. The blond man's cape was torn, as was Sephiroth's long coat. Although the blonde's eyes were hard and cold, she saw a fiery glint in Sephiroth's eyes.

            From his eagerness before, she had guessed that he was looking forward to this battle, but she had never known just how much. She had thought that he was amazingly powerful before, but it wasn't until now that she knew just how great his power was. 

            Watching the battle unfold before her, she realized, with quite a shock, that all those times she thought him to be too hard on her during training, he was actually holding back. And quite a lot, at that. Watching the two men lunge back and forward, swords flashing, she was happy he had. 

            Sephiroth slashed forward, and, anticipating Cloud's parry, twisted his blade around to come up behind it and slash him in the side. The blond, though, had trained hard too, and, seeing his mistake as he swung the blade, reversed it and managed to knock away Sephiroth's sword. Both fighters flew at each other again, slashing harshly, and falling back, neither one was surprised to see the sudden appearance of blood on the clothes of the other. 

            Sephiroth gripped his sword hilt tightly, although the slash to his arm was stinging. He grinned wildly, his eyes flickering. This had turned out better than he thought. All the time he had been locked in Limbo, Cloud had been improving his skills. 

            Still not enough, Sephiroth told himself, chuckling silently. As much as the blonde's skills had improved over the time, they were still no match for him.

            The two fighters circled each other, watching every move the other made. Cloud was moving quite well for someone who had a foot long gash in his side, but adrenaline, and his undying hatred for the monster before him, carried him above the pain. Pain was nothing compared to the final joy of destroying that which had destroyed so much.

            There was a noise behind her, but Sasha was too intent on the fight to pay attention to it.

            The two men flew at each other again, blood sprinkling the ground as they moved. It flew in arcs from the blades as they flashed and sliced, leaving long trails of maroon on the stone floor of the coliseum. Only a few moments passed before it was impossible to distinguish one's blood form the other, and both men still fought on. 

            There was no magic in the attacks of this battle, the only magic being that in their blood and in their sword arms, powering their muscles and minds and leading them further and further through the fight. But, just as their blood was staining the ground, the magic in their veins was staining them, bleeding out through them much the same as their blood bled through their cuts. 

            And so Sasha watched, awestruck by the terror and wonder she was seeing. The anger, the hate, the maliciousness and violence, things that would at any other time seem horrendous and disgusting, now, at this moment, in this fight, radiated more beauty than she had ever seen.

            But it faded fast.

            The glow from the magic that had begun to cloud the men's forms was growing steadily, bursting out in flashes each time the blades struck, although the two fighters' did not seem to notice it. Even as she watched, the glow was threatening to cloud them from view, and suddenly, the blades crossed one last time.

            The flash that ensued made Sasha shut her eyes tight for fear of losing her sight. Eyes still closed, she felt a strange wind pick up, and barely had enough time to grab the bars in front of her before being blasted by a bone-chilling blast of air, accompanied by a roaring blast that shook the ground she stood on. Her wings, held tight against her back a moment before, were pulled back by the wind as it blew past her, and then snapped back into her as the air was pulled back into the coliseum, smashing the girl into bars. 

            It was after a few moments that she ventured to open her eyes, blinking to clear her vision of the myriad of shapes that seemed to be burned into her cornea. 

            "Sephiroth…?" She muttered, pushing herself painfully away from the bars. Her vision began to clear, and she noticed a gate in the portcullis that had been blown open by the wind. Walking, or rather, stumbling out of it, she made her way onto the square stone slab that served as the ground for the fight.

            Glancing around, she squinted against what seemed to be bright sunlight. Staring at the ground was the only way she could get anywhere, and she moved cautiously across the stone. It was only after passing a few bloodstains that she noticed something strange. Stopping, she looked back at the last one she passed, trying to figure out what was bothering her. Looking closer, she realized that it didn't seem so much that the stone was stained, but that the blood was, almost, engraved, into the stone. She scuffed her shoe over it, but it felt as much a part of the stone as did the gray area surrounding it. 

            Wondering what that could foretell, she started off again, now better able to see against the light. Glancing around, she was surprised to see nothing, or rather, no one. The arena was empty except for her, and for a moment she lost the ability to breath.

            "But…" She whispered, not really understanding what this all meant. She walked toward the center of the stone slab, the last place the two fighters had been standing. There was a slight concave dip in the ground, a dip that had been burned white, with a rough halo of red surrounding it. 

            Reaching the center of the dip, she turned round and round, looking everywhere, and dropped to her knees, shaken up by what had just occurred. She stayed like that for a few moments, staring at the ground and trying to make sense of this. There was a noise behind her, and she turned quickly, not knowing what to expect.

            "Sasha?" Riku said, but she seemed to shrink away a little.

            "Riku…" She said, although it seemed more like she was trying to convince herself it was really him. It didn't work; she still felt that odd feeling, that same one she had gotten when she'd seen him in Wonderland. He was… different. Changed.

            He noticed her pull back; his eyes narrowed a little in confusion.

            "What?" he asked.

            "Nothing." She said, shaking her head and trying to ignore that feeling. "Nothing…"

            Something caught her attention, and she looked up. An object, small and dark, was flitting softly towards her, and she held out her hands to catch it.

            A black feather settled into the hollow of her palms, and as it did, a gray light began to shine from it. In seconds it had changed, lengthened, and she nearly dropped the sudden weight of the object, but held steady and clutched it tightly.

The Masamune lay in her hands.

            She stayed silent for a long time, staring at it, and even though Riku fidgeted a little behind her, she didn't notice.

            "Does… does this mean… Sephiroth…" She was reluctant to finish the sentence, "Is he…"

            "What? Is he dead?" Riku said, and she turned to him. He shrugged and continued. "Who knows? He was supposed to be dead last time too, but he wasn't."

            "But, the Masamune…" Sasha started, looking back at the sheathed sword.

            "Safe-keeping?" Riku supplied, looking around. The ground shuddered slightly, and he glanced down at it.

            "Safe-keeping…" Sasha repeated quietly, her eyes still on the sword.

            Riku looked around the ground, wondering where those tremors were coming from. His eyes were drawn to a nearby arc shaped stain. He was just a little shocked to see cracks appearing along the edge of the stain. Looking over at the other stains, he noticed the same thing happening to them, and the farther the cracks extended from the stains, the larger they got.

            "Sasha… I think we should get out of here." Riku said, taking a step in the girl's direction.

            "What?" Sasha asked, not really listening. There was a strange feeling coming over her. She pulled the sword close, wondering what had just happened. 

            "Get out of here, us, now…" Riku said, backing away from the advancing cracks and sparing a glance at Sasha.

            "Get out…" Sasha realized what he was saying, and looked around. The cracks were surrounding them, and the tremors were increasing. Even as she looked, sections of the slab seemed to be descending into… nothing? She looked again, thinking it wasn't possible. The ground that had surrounded the slab had crumbled away, the bleachers falling to someplace far below. And, she realized, if they didn't do something soon, both Riku and her would end up with the same fate.

            "Sasha…" Riku said warningly, turning to her.

            "My stone," She clutched the stone, then stopped.

            "What is it?" Riku asked, stepping closer to her.

            "It's…" She couldn't finish, and he looked closer. The stone, which had before contained a lightly flickering light, was dark. She stared at it in horror. If the stone was dark… the stone… Sephiroth had made it work… But… she shook her head, it couldn't be, it couldn't.

            "Sasha, we don't have time!" Riku dashed the last few feet to her, and she stiffened. She still couldn't shake that feeling she had.

            "I can make us a portal, I can get us out of here," Riku said, and with a wave of his hand a dark glowing portal appeared behind him. He held out his hand to her. "Come on."

            Sasha looked at him warily. Had he always been able to do this? Whether he had or hadn't, that strange feeling increased with his action. Had she the choice, she would've left on her own, but she had none. Wishing she could go with her feelings, fighting against them, she grabbed his hand and pulled herself up.

             Together they passed into the darkness.

***

Once more, tell me if you think I should make a sequel. And no, I'm not calling you guys male, I'm just used to calling people 'guys'. ^-^, not my fault I grew up with two brothers and four guys for best friends…

Next chapter, some time in Hollow Bastion, what is it really that is so different about Riku? And what will Sasha do now.

Thanks to:

Ari Powwel: Yes, there was symbolism in the Wonderland chapter! Go ahead and write what you thought you saw, I wanna see if I got my ideas through to people. Pleeeeeease tell me what you thought symbolized what? Please? ^-^ And look, took me a whole month! wow! *damn college*

Sunnie: Trinculo, I DO have a life! It is mostly filled with surfing the internet and attending mind numbing classes, tho…*sweatdrops* not much of a life, eh? Heh… *grins* I LOVE CLOUD!! And do you know they're making a FF7 movie, a sequel to the game? You probably do… its supposedly good. I can't wait to see it… Glad you like the story.

Blue Fox: If you won't tell I won't ask. *grins* Glad to see you back. And look, KAPOOF! I used it! And yes, it was for the stupid Moogles, your disappearing got me thinking og teleporting. Heh… 

Thank you all, you guys are great. I hope you liked this chapter, I'll try to get the next one up sooner, but we'll see… 


	13. Hollow Bastion: Depth

Disclaimer: KH is not mine. Riku, no matter how many times I beg and plead the Powers That Be, is not mine either. 

^ - ^

Yes, I know, after months of nothing, you'd think I'd have something a lot longer to show for it. Blerk. I was dead. Now I live! Haha! Anyways, lets see what I have to say about this chapter.

1: Keep in mind, all this is in Hollow Bastion. Not much exploring, more of a backdrop, yeah?

2: Reccurring themes. Oooo…

3: Can Sasha use the Masamune? Why is it with her? Where is Sephiroth? At least one question will be answered…

4: You will all be going: What the hell is up with Riku and why is it going on?! Do not worry, it will all be explained, although I do believe you are all smart little puppies and kittens and will figure it out on your own.

5: I really like numbering this stuff…

6: Enjoy. ^ - ^

7: Wheee…

*******************************************************

Chapter 11

            Riku stood in the hallway, staring into space thoughtfully. Over the past few days he'd had a lot of time for that. When Sasha and him appeared in Hallow Bastion, it was in a dark and seemingly unoccupied castle that they found themselves. A small heartless had timidly approached Riku, handing him a small envelope. Its contents revealed that Maleficent had gone off to attend to pressing matters, with no mention of when she would return. This was all for the best, Riku thought. The sorceress hadn't taken kindly to Sasha's rejection of her offer, and news that the girl was in her castle wouldn't go over well with her.

            As for Sasha; Riku sighed and looked back down the hallway. Although she'd thanked him for getting her out of the quickly disintegrating coliseum, she'd taken to disappearing periodically. Every now and then he'd run into her in one of the hallways, or maybe in the library, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that she was avoiding him. He turned away thoughts of going out to search her, although he desperately wanted to. The castle was strangely silent, even the heartless were subdued, and with all the silence came waves of loneliness. He didn't like the feeling, didn't like the way it crept up on him and made him shiver as he looked over his shoulder. The loneliness made him more aware of things that he didn't want to be aware of, the silence made him hear things he didn't want to hear.

            His eyes narrowed, and his jaw set defiantly. No, he wouldn't stand there and let it reach him again, he wouldn't. He set off in a direction, he didn't know which, or where it led, as long as it led away from where he was. For a moment he felt like creating a portal to somewhere else, somewhere far from this place, but the knowledge of what Maleficent would do if she found out was enough to dissuade him from that track.

            Besides, leaving Sasha alone in the castle, with heartless everywhere and Maleficent sure to return, was as good as murdering her. And he wasn't going to let anyone get hurt just because he decided he wanted to run away.

            **_And letting your friends get lost while you traveled through the worlds isn't as bad?_**

            Riku stopped, turned around quickly. His eyes grew shadowed as he started down the hallway again.

            "No, no. I didn't let them get lost… I tried to find them…" Riku muttered as he walked on, hoping, praying to whatever god there was that it wouldn't reply, wouldn't return.

            **_Right, right…all your searching, and what do you have to show for it? You left them, lost them…_**

            "I didn't.            " Riku gritted his teeth. His fists clenched as he slowed, stopped.

            _Yes, you're right, you know… They're the ones who left you…_

            "Yeah… yeah… it's their fault…" Riku started walking again. "Their fault."

            **_Do you really believe that? Do you, honestly? If I recall correctly, it was you who chose the dark road that led you away from them…_**

            "Only because…" Riku paused, reaching the end of the hallway, his voice growing soft. "Only because they would've eventually left me…"

            _Yes, they would have. And even when you were gone, are they looking for you? _

            "No."

            _No. You must be the one who travels the worlds. You must be the one who travels the dark roads, all to find them…_

            **_And how do you know that they aren't out there looking for you?_**

            "They're not." Riku said firmly. "Even Sora, after I left, he didn't come looking for me."

            **_But he was happy to see you, happy…_**

            _Happy that he wasn't alone. As soon as he'd find Kairi he'd leave again…_

            A noise from his left interrupted the arguing voices, and he turned to see the door from the lifts opening. Sasha stepped out from behind it, looking a little tired. She noticed him and that wary look flashed through her eyes, though she tried to hide it.

            "Hi…" She managed as the door swung shut, her wings giving a tiny, uncertain flutter.

            "Hi." Riku said, feeling them retreat somewhere, glowering out at her from the back of his mind. He wondered, did she feel them? Was that why she kept away so much? "Where're you headed?"

            "Library." She answered quickly, a little too quickly actually. Her eyes flickered again, but it wasn't nervousness that bothered her now. There was something on her mind.

            "Oh." Riku would have asked if he could go with her, help her with something, anything, just as long as the silence didn't come, just as long as the loneliness stayed far away. 

            Sasha was looking at him thoughtfully, biting her lower lip as her thoughts whirred through her mind. He stood there, uncomfortable, not knowing just what she thought, desperately wanting to say something, anything, but not knowing what.

            "Maybe… you can help me," She said, slowly, carefully. 

            "Sure." He replied, trying to hide the sudden happiness that rushed through him. Anything, even sitting in the dusty library, looking through the yellowed pages, as long as he was with someone, as long as he wasn't alone, as long as he could, but for a moment, chase away the cold that was threatening to swallow him.

            They started down the hallway to the library, walking a few feet apart and looking at nothing specific. The silence grew, and although there was the sharp twinge of uncertainty in it, it wasn't as bad as the silence that came when the hallways were empty and the only sound the rush of blood in veins and the pounding of a heart in a chest.

            Sasha watched the floor as she walked. There wasn't anything spectacular about it, but it was better than looking up and risking looking into his eyes and seeing what she didn't want to see, even if it wasn't really there. She couldn't shake the feeling, the sense that she had first gotten in the picture hole. Ever since then it had only been growing, and all she could feel was this urgency, this extreme fight-or-flight effect. She had tried to tell herself it was just the stress of the situation, but it wasn't working. 

Adding to it was the fact that she couldn't get to sleep most nights, but sat in her bed, staring at the covered blade that leaned in the far corner of the room. She'd tried pulling the Masamune out, just once, just to see if it would work. No matter how she tried, or what she did, the blade wouldn't budge. It was strange, too, the way it got lighter each day it was by her, even if she hadn't touched it at all. Each time she lifted it the weight grew less and less. It was strange, and it disturbed her for some reason. This wasn't right, she knew. The Masamune didn't belong to her, and no matter whether it was for safekeeping or not, the sword was beginning to scare her.

            Of course, ever since the Coliseum, everything was scaring her.

            "What are you going to look up?" Riku asked suddenly, just as they were nearing the library doors.

            "Hm…?" Sasha looked up, brought out of her thoughts. "Oh, I just wanted to see if there was anything about talismans in there…"

            "What for?" Riku said, pushing the door open and letting her go first.

            Sasha stayed silent for a moment, looking around the bookshelves critically. Riku walked up next to her, looking around, then back at her.

            "The pieces that The Three in Wonderland had… they formed a talisman." Sasha said, walking forward and looking at the books. "Sephiroth had reformed it, but it wouldn't work… or at least that's what he told me."

            "Where is it now?" Riku asked, moving to the table that stood underneath the staircase. There were some papers on it, scattered about.

            "I don't know, Limbo, probably, or with Sephiroth, wherever he is…" Sasha's eyes grew shadowed. "I don't know. I just… I need to know…I need to…"

            She didn't finish her sentence. She was reading the titles of the books feverishly now. She just needed to do something, anything. Anything to keep her mind from falling into the black pit she saw so often in her dreams. The black pit and the darker mirror, looking more like a portal into eternal pain than framed glass. She didn't know why but the figure in the mirror was haunting her thoughts now, the yellow, almond shaped orbs glowing so brightly in her mind that she thought she could see them in the shadows of her room.       

            Lighting all the candles in the room before she went to sleep didn't help much.

            She pulled a book off the shelf, leafed through it rapidly before setting it back and picking another one. Riku looked at her once, then turned back to the papers on the table. They were scrawled on with ink, words he couldn't quite make sense of. They were ragged letters, more scratched into the paper than onto it. He wanted to turn away, finding no sense in looking at them anymore, but he found he couldn't move. There was a sudden pressure building in the back of his mind, a sudden force pushing forward in his senses. He stared, unable to close his eyes, as the letters on the paper shuddered, as the lines began to bend, rearrange. As the words began to make sense…

            There was a crash, a metallic clang that ripped him away from the papers. Blinking, he looked warily at them, but they looked as they had before; scratched, scrawled, nonsensical. He turned to find Sasha sitting on top of one bookcase, her wings half opened, looking straggled. She looked morosely down at a book that she had no doubt flown up there to get and dropped.

            "What…" Riku started, still wondering where the metal sound had come from, then noticed the book.

            It was quite large, three feet long and two feet wide, and made entirely of a dark gray, metallic material, archaic runes punched into its front. There was a large lock on its side, a lock like he'd never seen before. Instead of one keyhole it had many, thirteen, he counted. It was decorated with a series of spikes that flattened out into feathers, glistening sharply in the lamplight.

            He turned to look at her again, startled to see a single tear drip silently down her cheek.

            "Arithrian." She pushed herself off the top of the bookshelf and landed next to the book. "Its Arithrian. So it wasn't all destroyed…"

            "Is… is that from your world?" Riku asked haltingly. Sasha nodded, and kneeled down next to the book. He walked over and crouched down, looking at the book closely. "How do you open it?"

            Sasha answered him with a wry grin, then reached out and started pulling feathers out of her wings. Riku, shocked by what she was doing, watched as she counted out the feathers, some of them stained with blood at the ends. She took them and fitted them into the holes in the lock, then gathered them in her hand and twisted.

            The lock gave an aggravated screech, but moved. As it turned, threads of blue magic began stretching themselves out of the holes that the feathers were in and surged up them. The magic threads consumed the feathers, and once they faded away the threads spread out over the cover. Each rune they touched began to glow, until the cover shone brightly. There was an almost inaudible hiss, and the lock parted into sharp angles and released its hold. The parts that had made up the lock fell back into skillfully hidden recesses, and the bright blue light faded until only the runes themselves shone softly.

            "That was interesting." Riku said breathlessly. He'd seen much magic performed in Hollow Bastion, more than he had ever wanted, but none had been so delicate, so soft, so nice.

            "Yeah, well, if someone used anything other than an Arithrian's wing feathers to open it, the threads would have formed into a dragon and eaten them." Sasha said, pulling the book closer to her and lifting the cover slowly. "Standard for a book like this."

            "And what kind of book is this?" Riku asked, eyeing it warily now that he'd learned that it hadn't been as nice as he'd thought.

            "A magic book." Sasha said. She peered at the page in front of her for a moment, then let out an groan. "And it's written in archaic Algin."

            "Is… that a problem?" Riku asked, looking over at the page. It was covered with columns of twisting shapes, drawn in deep blue ink.

            "Not really… we all learn to read archaic Algin in the schools, but it was never my best subject…" Sasha said, adding under her breath. "Nothing really was…"

            "Hm… But you can read it, right?" Riku looked at her as she closed the cover.

            "Yes. But it'll take a while." Sasha picked up the book and stood up wearily. "I'm going to go to my room, I need to get some sleep."

            "Oh… okay…" Riku said, standing up.

            "You should go get some sleep too, you look like you need it." Sasha said, giving him a scrutinizing look. 

            "Thanks." He said with a half-grin. She smiled tiredly and they walked out

            Sasha sat on her bed, hunched over the book. The bedside candle flickered, casting quickly shuddering light over the pages. There were more candles on the floor surrounding the bed and on the windowsill. She had her axe and the Masamune strapped to her back, not really knowing if it was because all those candles took up too much room or because the crazy thoughts in her mind were telling her that the mirror-shadow would use them against her.

            The runes on the pages were hard to decipher, for the most part. Tiredness and dim lighting made her eyes blur them, but she couldn't stop. She was getting to the point where she actually understood them, understood the message they were presenting.

            "Calling the truth. Calling… the wind. Calling the… the… gods. Calling… calling home." She frowned, the words running through her head. "Calling the truth. Calling the wind. Calling the gods. Calling home."

            The runes on the page began to shine. The light from the candles dimmed, disappeared as they grew brighter and brighter…

            Riku walked forlornly down the hallway. He'd tried to sleep but he couldn't relax. Each time he closed his eyes _they_ were there. _They_ were waiting. He hadn't been able to get past them, and now he'd given up trying to sleep. 

            There was a light ahead of him, glowing brighter and brighter, and he quickened his pace. He didn't know what made the shine, but it looked somewhat familiar.

            A sudden blast dropped him to the ground, and a sound like a thousand winds roared past him. It was a long moment before he was able to stand up again, and even then the floor still shuddered. He hurried down the hallway, at a jog first, then a run. As he grew closer to the origin of the blast he began finding fragments on the floor. Stooping down to check them, he realized they were wax, un-melted, shattered wax.

            He stood up and took off again, and reached Sasha's door out of breath. He picked his way among a few fallen stones and the broken door and made his way into the room.

            Darkness was around him, then something flickered. 

            The candle on the bedside table had survived the assault, and it flickered bravely to life, shedding light on what remained of the room.

            _See…_

            He didn't want to see. He didn't want to see the empty room, empty floor, empty bed, empty everything.

            **_You left her for just a moment…_**

            He hadn't wanted to. He hadn't wanted to.

            _And now…_

            He heard them merge, as if they were something more than disembodied voices.

            _And now… you're alone._

            The voice was stronger now, two-toned and dangerous.

            _All alone… with me._****

******************************************************

First off, thanks to:

Ari Powwel 

Slinkster Sunshine

Magic Blue Fire Kitsune (Boy, your name got long. ^ - ^)

Sorry for no written out thankses… just know that I really really appreciate you guys and your reviews. It's always great to have reviewers that honestly review a story and come back to read more. Your inputs are always appreciated. You guys are awesome; if I could I'd send you all cookies. Really. And maybe some ice cream too.

Hope all the readers enjoyed this. I will be trying to put up chapters every other week now. Hope. Keep your fingers crossed that I do it. Flame me if I go over fourteen days without a new chap, it should help! *grins*

Sora is coming in the next chapter. Yes, and he will not be an idiot. Because Sora is adorable, and in that one picture, yes he looks like a pretty boy very very much. (aw, pretty Sora!) Erhm, yeah, so Sora is coming.

I will post, at the very very end, a detailed description of any and all symbolism and tricky stuff in the fic. Just cause. 

I might as well tell you now; there are three in-between sequels in my plans, as well as the 'true' sequel. The three will be an in-between for this fic and the 'true' sequel, and they will focus on Sora, Riku, and Sasha. And, I'd have one with Kairi, but I really and truly do not know what to write and, I'm sorry, but she isn't featured much in my fics. I don't hate her, honestly, I just don't write her. Anyways, they will happen, and the answers to some hanging questions will be in them. *nudge* One will have to do with that album Sephy was looking at… ^ - ^

I'm off for now, then. Hope you had a good time and I'll be back with another chap soon.   
Hopefully.


	14. Traverse Town : Interlude

Oh, I am horrible at updates. I'm sorry, I really am.

  
Disclaimer: If I owned it, it wouldn't be on a 'fan fiction' site, would it?

Notes: Okay, this is a nice interlude. I dunno, its okay. Short chapter, but can you believe that with 10 point Arial font and 1 inch margins this entire fic takes up almost 45 pages? This is probably the longest thing I have ever written. Wow. 

I don't know what I was thinking on this chapter. Most of it was written on school computers between classes and e-mailed to myself. The style changes a few times, I just couldn't get it to work right but I think it came out okay.

Sephy: *pouts* I'm not in the story anymore.

I know, I know, I'm sorry…

Sephy: SORRY"S NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

How about chocolate?

Sephy: … Okay. *^-^*

And now I give you (funky looking because Word wasn't cooperating):

Chapter 12

                        It was shining, somewhere. The floating was causing her head to spin uncomfortably, and her wings could not help her at all. Voices surrounded her, fading, growing. She could not make out the words, though they sounded familiar, she could not make out the faces, though she knew them. Feathers brushed past her, spinning in a growing maelstrom that spun her around again, sending the glittering blue-green-orange-red flecks of past lives billowing past her, into her, through her. She twisted to keep the voices away, to keep away what she already knew. She twisted to keep herself away, away from advancing black that ate the shining and scooped up the specks of color to draw them in, her in, to where the light and dark were one.

            "Hey, you awake yet?"

            Sasha blinked, and opened her eyes to see a face an inch away from hers.

            "Ahh!" She tried to jolt back but found it hard since she was lying on a bed. The face that had been so close to hers had disappeared with an accompanying yell of shock.

            "Yuffie!" A slightly familiar voice called, and the girl picked herself off the ground.

            "Sorry, heh." The girl grinned, looking at Sasha. "I didn't mean to scare you."

            "Uh, that's alright." Sasha sat up and looked around.

            The girl standing in front of her had short black hair, and a very skimpy ninja outfit on. Sasha turned to where the other voice had come from and saw Sora walking towards her, balancing a steaming cup and a bowl on a tray.

            "Here ya go, Sasha." He grinned as he handed her the tray, then sat down on the edge of the bed. "Aerith made it, she said she hopes you like it."

            "Thanks." Sasha looked down at the tray, then back at Sora. "Sora, how… why…where…?"

            "You're in Traverse Town," Sora laughed a little at her mystified expression. "You got lucky, we found you floating around in gummi space not far from Wonderland. Leon says that there used to be a world there, but that it had been destroyed by the heartless. He said that if we hadn't found you, you could've… well…"

            "Died?" Sasha proposed, noting the suddenly somber look that had come to Sora's face.

            "Yeah…" Suddenly Sora's face brightened, and he smiled again. "But we found you and you're all right now, so there's no worries."

            "Yeah," Sasha grinned. She took a sip from the cup, the soft aroma of rose tea bringing her fully back to her senses. She put the cup back on the tray and looked around the room again. "Sora, do you know where my things are?"

            "Uh, yeah, just a sec, I'll go get them." He crossed the room and began to rummage among some boxes.     

            "They're in a box over there, we haven't been back for very long, and we didn't want to lose them so we packed 'em away." Yuffie explained, grinning. "By the way, that's a real nice battle-axe you have. What's it made of?"

            "Silver Onyx." Sasha answered, taking another sip of tea. At Yuffie's puzzled expression, she explained, "It's a natural compound that's found-was-found on Arithria. Its original form is liquid metal, but when you form a coherent thought for it to take the form of, it solidifies into it. It's a wonderful metal, because of its shifting abilities you never lose edge when sharpening it, and it can't overheat or chill if it comes in contact with heat or cold."

            "Wow. That's really cool, I want a silver onyx weapon…" Yuffie said, her eyes shining. "That is such a great metal, that's just amazing!"

            "Yeah, well, unless Aritria somehow comes back, silver onyx is lost." Sasha said, her attention turning to a distant point in her mind.

            "Ah-ha! Here we go!" Sora called out, and brought a box over to the bed. Setting it down, he opened it and pulled out her backpack and axe.

            "There's also a really long sword in here, but we could barely move it-" Sora stopped suddenly, looking at the space next to Sasha on the bed. It had been empty a moment earlier, but now the black-sheathed sword lay there. "But" how'd that happen? It was just in the box…"

            "Its… a different kind of sword…" Sasha glanced at it warily, then back at Sora as he began to pull something else out of the box.

            "Here, this was floating around you too… I don't know what it was, but maybe you do." He said, handing her a few pieces of metal and some tattered papers.

            "The book…" Sasha said, her voice breaking. She took the metal and papers, looked at them sadly. "Its… oh no… that means…"

            "What? What's wrong?" Sora looked at her, concerned. 

            Yuffie stepped closer, looking from Sasha's face to the objects in her hands.

            "This was a magic book. It… it had tried sending me home. I understand now." She gasped suddenly. "Riku!"

            "What? Riku?!" Sora looked at her, shocked.

            "He probably thinks I left on purpose…" Sasha looked at Sora, at his disbelieving look. "We were in Hollow Bastion, and I found this book. I hadn't thought that the magic would work, but I cast a spell on accident. And… and Riku's still there."

            It wasn't just the light now. The darkness was beginning to waver too. He didn't understand it; nothing made sense. Darkness can't fade, can it? Then why was it no longer as dark as it was? Why was it, not becoming lighter, but becoming less? Less dark, less empty, less treacherous and vengeful. Walking through it no longer brought shudders, no longer teased the mind into labyrinths of ill-hidden fear and tremors of discord. Why was it so different now, so changed…

            Or maybe it wasn't the problem at all.

            Maybe it was him.

            Yuffie had gone to check on how Leon and Aerith were doing at the Magician's house, leaving Sora and Sasha alone in the small house.

            "Well, what do we do now?" Sora said, looking at

Sasha anxiously.

            "I don't know." Sasha sighed. Her gaze drifted towards the Masamune lying next to her, and she quickly looked away. Outside the window the electric lights flickered softly. "What were you planning on

doing now?"

            "Well, we were going to go to a world called Halloween Town," Sora said.

            "Sounds interesting…" Sasha said, then looked at Sora quizzically. "Are you still looking for your other friend, Kairi?" 

            Sora sighed, looked away for a moment.

            "Yeah… we still haven't found her." His eyes flashed suddenly, a glint of frustration. "I… I just don't know where to look. And I'm worried, what if something happened to her? What if she's in danger somewhere and I can't help her?"

            Sasha looked at him for a moment, then reached out and touched him gently on the shoulder. 

            "Don't worry, Sora, I'm sure you'll find her. You've gotten this far." She said, smiling a little. He turned to her, doubt flickering in his eyes.

            "You think so?" He asked, his tone that of a small child wanting to be told again that there were no monsters under his bed, in his closet, a sort of half-hope to mask the helplessness inside.

            "I know you can. As long as you try, you can do anything." She said softly, and he grinned, belief in himself restored, at least for the moment. At least for now.

            "Okay, come on, the Gummi ships ready and Cid's getting anxious to go so hurry up." The brown haired man watched as everyone got the rest of their things together and headed off to the gummi ship. He eyed the winged girl, Sasha, critically, and then sighed and headed off to the ship himself.

            "Is he always this demanding?" Sasha asked Sora as they climbed on board. The boy laughed as they sat down in the seats.

            "Not always. He's just too serious sometimes." Sora said, buckling up the seat belt. "Don't forget yours, sometimes the ride gets a little rough."

            "So, we're off to Halloween Town…" Sasha said as she buckled up. "Sounds like it'll be fun."

            "Yeah, I can't wait to get there." Sora said looking out a window.

            There was a hiss that suddenly changed to a roar, and the gummi ship shook slightly. The scene behind the windows began to change as the rockets pushed out. Traverse Town was being left far, far behind and gummi blocks floated like lost thoughts in the deep blue. They, too, receded, faded until it seemed that they were stars themselves.

  
  
*************************************************

Sephy: Why'd you eat the muse section?

Because… I was hungry?

Sephy: Ohhh… well that's stupid.

*grrrr* Shut up…

Thanks to:

Magic Blue Fire Kitsune (I really like it, you know? It sounds so pretty): Please don't lose faith! *sniffles* I'm sorry! I… I… I Have problems! ^-^ Well, maybe the next one will be up sooner… Thank you!

Brittany: Wowies! A new reviewer, you deserve cookies! *beams* I'm very happy you like it so far, and I hope you'll like the next chapters too! Thank you for reading.

Jade A.B. Stone: Another new reviewer! I'm so happy! *hands out more cookies* Thank you so much for your comments! It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. ^-^ I know, a RikuSasha would be fun, no? But…eh, I am forcing myself to have no relationship dealies in here. I'm very very very happy you like it, and I'll try to get the next one up sooner. Really, I will. 

Ari and Slinkster Sunshine, you two have been reviewing for ages, I love you two, really! IN an extremely platonic sorta way. ^-^

Reviewers, you guys make my day, really. Just knowing that someone out there likes what I'm doing makes me happy and makes me want to write more. On my crappiest of days I go on and reread the reviews and you guys just make me smile. Thank you very much and I hope I don't let you down!

^-^

~ Zoshi


	15. In Transit

Disclaimer: Kingdom hearts is not mine. If it was I'd actually have as many rooms and ferrets as I actually want to have.

Notes: Erk... a long long long time ago, a freak of a girl started a story that soon became the longest story she'd ever written. With more chapters than anything else, the girl was v ery proud of it. then she went on vacation and her mind rotted. But not to fear! I started this chapter while I was still in Poland, and now, finally, its finished. I guess. so here you have it. I hate writing gummi ship stuff. But that's okay. Oh, yes, don't get too attached to the lady in pink. If i actually finish this as I want to and go on to write the sequel... welll... heheheheheehhh.... growls i hate her......

On with the story!

BTW: Music taht inspired me ending the chapter: Depeche Mode. Oh yeah.

* * *

Chapter 13

The view outside the window hadn't changed much since the beginning of the flight. Even with a warp jump, there were still a few hours of flight time left for them. It was a good thing everyone had their seatbelts on, since as soon as they left warp speed, a group of heartless ships bore down on them and forced them into an interspace dogfight. Dodging meteors and gummi blocks, Leon and Cid managed to destroy the heartless ships without suffering anything more than a few scratches on the armor. Now they were flying through a field of crystals, blue and red gummi blocks floating around them in misty space.

Sasha leaned against the starboard window, looking out into the crystal field but not really seeing it. The battle axe and Masamune lay on the floor next to her like loyal dogs, and every now and then her gaze dropped to them. Every time it did she quickly looked away and tried to think of something else. Something like this new world they were going to. She tried to imagine what Halloween Town might look like, and what exactly this 'Halloween' thing was. Finally, getting tired of the blades constantly interrupting her thoughts, she pushed off from the window and walked over to where Sora was sitting and looking through his keychains.

"Sora?" Sasha asked, sitting down next to him. "What's Halloween?"

He looked up at her in surprise, forgetting about the keychains.

"You don't know what Halloween is?" He exclaimed, eyes wide in disbelief.

"No..." Sasha said uncertainly.

"But... everyone knows what Halloween is!" Sora said.

"I don't!" Sasha answered, her wings fluttering. Sora gave her a suspicious look, but then put his keychains away and started explaining.

"Halloween's this kind of festival, holiday, sort of thing. Everyone gets dressed in these ridiculously scary costumes and runs around scaring people." He started. Sasha looked confused, but he continued. "But there's more, you go around to peoples houses and knock on their doors,

and when they open them you yell out 'Trick or Treat!'"

"And... then what?" Sasha asked.

"And then they have to give you candy, or you trick them with something." Sora said, then added after a moment. "Or TP their front yard..."

"What's 'TP'?" Sasha asked, still confused. "Isn't it some sort of house or something?"

"Don't worry about it, its just a trick thing." Sora said, "But you really didn't know what Halloween was?"

"Not until now." Sasha said. After a moment she smiled. "Heh, that sounds like fun, dressing in costumes and scaring people..."

"It is! The best part is when you scare old ladies, and they scream and scream..." Sora started to laugh. "Once I scared my own cat! I put all this makeup on and this scary costume and when I stepped into the living room he almost fell off the table!"

Sasha started to laugh with him, until they both were laughing like idiots. Yuffie came over, grinning.

"And what's so funny?" She asked, leaning on the back of one of the chairs and looking at them.

"Halloween stories..." Sora explained, grinning widely.

"Ooooh, Halloween stories! I love Halloween stories!" Yuffie exclaimed happily, and in seconds she'd hopped over the back of the chair and plopped into the seat.

"I thought you said you didn't celebrate Halloween on your world anymore..." Sora said, looking at her.

"That may be true, and it also may be true that I'd never ever dressed up or gone out Trick or Treating," Yuffie acknowledged, " But that doesn't mean that I can't love Halloween stories."

She looked at him triumphantly. Sasha snickered, and when the young ninja crossed her arms and looked at her indignantly, she cracked up. Sora joined her, and soon the whole threesome was laughing.

Aeris looked over at them from where she, Donald, and Gooyf were looking through the supplies and checking them. Donald gave them a glance, 'hmph'd' and went back to helping Goofy get his head out of one of the backpacks. Aeris smiled, then went on with her checklist.

"Oooh, did I ever tell you about the time I switched everyone's materia?" Yuffie asked, her eyes glowing mischieviously. "Well, it was one night when we stopped in this little country town, right. After everyone went to sleep I snuck into their rooms and switched their materia on them, you know, keeping the colors of the stones the same so they wouldn't catch on that quick. Well, the next day we meet up with these dinasour dragon sorta creatures, and Cloud goes to cast Fira and instead he casts Blizzara, and Vincent is doing lightning damage instead of ice damage..."

Yuffie got a nostalgic look in her eyes. She smiled and sighed.

"Of course, as soon as they figured out what happened and who did it, they chased me to the next village and almost drowned me in the well," Yuffie grinned. "Those were the days."

A sudden noise interrupted their laughs, and Cid started cursing loudly.

"Okay, what happened?" Yuffie asked, jumping to her feet.

"Heartless ships. They managed to sneak around to our back and attack us from behind." Leon said, flipping some switched on the control panel.

"Everyone, buckle up, this is gonna be one hell of a ride." Cid called. Everyone leaped for their seats. Streaks of light flew past them, laser fire that they'd managed to avoid.

"Dammit!' Cid growled, cigarette ash drifting down to the floor. He let out a puff of smoke and pulled back on the steering stick, causing the gummi ship to suddenly turn and shoot upwards.

"What are you doing?" Leon exclaimed. Cid gave him a steely look.

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing." Cid suddenly pulled the ship to the left, and they watched as six heartless ship blasted past them on the right. Cid straightened the ship out and pointed towards the enemy ships. "Now!"

Leon, almost caught off guard, fired off the ships cannons, hitting three heartless ships and clipping the wings of the other three as they blasted past.

"Hah! Lets see them follow us now." Cid said, grinning and taking a long drag on his cigarette. He set the the ship on its course, and they blasted off leaving the wounded heartless ships far behind.

* * *

Thank you to:

Magic Blue Fire Kitsune: Rarg! er, i mean... heh... I've been away from the internet for too long! Anyways, i'm planning on reading your story as soon as I finish uploading this. I dun have msn, but feel free to e-mail me at if you want.

Reviewer formerly Jade now Malignant Paroxysm: hee heee... yeah I'm weird. Wow, a returning reviewer? I feel special. I'm glad that you managed to find my story again. Thanks for reviewing and letting me know how you like it.

TwilightAmathyst: Yay! New reviewer! You deserve cookies! Especially since you reviewed to all my other stories too! I have no idea how you managed to get through all that, but thank you very much for it. And I'll try to update some of those others as soon as I figure out how. And I'm fixing/fixed the mess up with the chapters. That's weird, but the prologue is back in its proper place, so go ahead nad check out chapter 1 if you want.

Ari: that sucks, you can't reply... erk, but thanks for telling me what you think! Heh, here, you get cookies too.

Sarah: Because I know you're going to read this eventually. Thanks for keeping up with the story, and for reminding me to update, update, update! heh, its really cuz of you that this chapters going up today and not next year.

Thank you everyone for holding up with me and lasting through my stupidity and late updates and all that. You've all been great.

Zo, sigining out.


	16. Halloween Town : Inner Monsters Emerging

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, or Halloween Town, or Jack, he just comes over for tea sometimes, and Zero hangs out with my dog...

A/N: So yes. Finally. Anticipation! Right, sure. Anyways, I hope I don't disappoint you guys with this chapter. Ooof, it didn't even end the way I thought it would! What's the use of outlines if your outline conclusion is different than your actual one? Hm. Never mind. Well, I hope you guys like the Halloween outfits. And such. There were some parts I just didn't write out because, come on, most of us have played the game to this point, and we know what happens. I actually changed the sequence of evens and such around, just because if I kept it going the way the game had it, it would've made it much more difficult. Anyways, I'll stop rambling now. Enjoy!

PS: Thanks Malignant-Paroxysm for telling me about the jumbled up paragraphs in the first part. Lets see if this is better....

Chapter 14

"It's quite simple, really. I found a doorway that led to the other holidays. When the first Heartless came through, I realized we could have an entirely new act for next Halloween!" Jack said, his skull-face grinning. "Unfortunately, it isn't quite working out as we planned..." 

Sora, Goofy, Donald, and Sasha, who had refused to stay on board the gummi ship, were standing around the fountain in Guillotine Square. Rickety, dark windowed buildings surrounded them, some only half-intact, others very close to falling over. The fountain in the middle of the square burbled with strange, green tinged liquid that didn't quite seem to be water. A black iron fence, arrow tipped with curving, sharp angled crossbars, bordered the square, separating it from the bright-eye inhabited bushes on the other side. Before disembarking, Donald suggested they change their clothes so they fit in with the general feel of the world. Sora was dressed in black, with vampire teeth and a pumpkin mask he wore covering only one eye. He had little black demon wings jutting out from his back, and had on overly large white gloves, and nifty black shoes. Goofy was dressed like a monster zombie, his fur ragged and his eyes discolored, and Donald was wrapped, head to toe, in mummy wrappings. Around his midsection a part of the wrapping was undone, and some magic trick done to make it seem as if he had no body underneath the wrappings. Sasha found herself wearing a black and silver pinstriped shirt, black pants that ended in ragged purple flame edges, and a mask that looked like a smiling skull. And, for some strange reason, her wings were covered in neon green silly string. Her axe seemed to have changed without her knowing, now having the words 'Sucks to be you' carved into it, obviously directed towards those at the receiving end. The masamune didn't change at all, but remained strapped to her back between her wings, unresponsive as before and growing even lighter with each passing moment. Jack Skellington, pumpkin King of Halloween, was currently explaining to them just exactly what was going on in Halloween Town as they took in their surroundings. 

"Well, what did you try to do with the Heartless?" Sora asked, looking at Jack. 

"I wanted to teach them to dance, but something's not right..." Jack looked at them. "Would you mind coming with me to Dr. Finkelstein's lab and seeing what might be wrong?" 

"Sure!" Sora said, and looked at his companions. "Maybe we can find out something more about the Heartless..." 

"Good point." Sasha nodded her agreement. 

"All, right, hyuk, let's go." Goofy said, grinning. 

"Eh, why not." Donald sighed, "But make sure to keep an eye out in case any Heartless are running loose around here."

They set off down the road to the laboratory, where Dr. Finkelstein was working on a Heartless. They passed a few gates in the fence, a few leading to other houses, the other one leading to a tall, thin house that looked about ready to fall over any moment. They walked along a large stone wall and finally made it to the doorway that led to the laboratory. Inside, they found Dr. Finkelstein, in his wheelchair, trying to do something with a Heartless. He shocked it, but other than a nice light show, nothing happened. 

"Well, doctor, have you figured anything out yet?" Jack asked, walking over to the lab table. 

"It seems to me, that this Heartless is lacking something..." Dr. Finkelsteins said, maneuvering his wheelchair over to his desk. "Hmm. Hmmmm. Yes. Hmm."

"Well, doctor," Jack said, his eyes narrowed in thought. "What if... what if we gave this Heartless a heart. Maybe that could work!" 

"Hm. Probable, extremely probable. Highly possible." Dr. Finkelstein turned his wheelchair around. "In that case, we must make a heart." 

"We'll help you!" Sora said. 

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Donald asked warily. 

"Well, if it works, that means the Heartless won't be an Heartless anymore, right?" Sora asked. "Besides, wouldn't it be funny to see a Heartless dance?" 

"I second that." Sasha said, raising a hand. She grinned. "Besides, think what we could do if the Heartless could be controlled like that. No more fighting, just flip a switch and they all go nice." 

"That's true." Goofy nodded, turning to Donald. 

"Oh, all right." Donald said, crossing his arms. "But if anything bad happens, don't say I didn't warn you..." 

The group set off gathering the ingredients that Dr. Finkelstein needed. First on the list was memory, and Dr. Finkelstein sent them to find Sally for it. 

"Terrible news, Jack! Just awful!" The Mayor came careening around in his truck, the cat-siren going full blast. "The Heartless are going out of control! Oh horror horror! Terrible, terrible news! Everyone, the Heartless are going out of control!" 

"That isn't good." Donald said, looking around suspiciously. 

"I wonder, could the experiment have anything to do with it?" Jack mused. "Well, not to worry, we'll have everything under control, Mayor." 

Jack turned back to the rest. 

"Come on, lets check the Graveyard. Maybe Sally's there." Jack said, and led the way. 

Once there, they were ambushed by a group of strange ghost-like Heartless. Every few seconds they'd disappear and appear in a different place, their eyes letting out beams of light like flashlights. With the five of them fighting, though, the area was soon cleared of Heartless. As soon as the last Heartless disappeared, an orange-red glow appeared, dodging between the headstones as it headed towards them. 

"Zero? Is that you?" Jack asked, and a small dog-like ghost floated out from behind a headstone. It yapped happily, an eerie sound that seemed more like an echo of a living bark than a real bark itself. "Hey, Zero! Do you know where Sally is?" 

Zero yapped again, its nose blinking on and off as it floated around them, then shot off to the left. The group followed him and soon found Sally. After getting some of Sally's memory, they all headed back to Dr. Finkelstein's laboratory. Only to discover that now they needed to get another ingredient: surprise. So they set off again, trying to think of a place where surprise could be hidden. 

"So, Jack, where do you think we should go?" Sora asked as he neatly sliced a heartless in half.

"We could go through the Graveyard and check out some other secret areas." Jack said, taking out another heartless. 

"Okay, let's do it!" Sora said, grinning, and turned to the others. Goofy jump-charged a floating heartless and defeated it, while a few steps from him Sasha and Donald teamed up and blasted another heartless away with frosty magic. "Come on, let's go." 

They took off back to the Graveyard, the full moon lighting their path. Sora looked around, and then stepped over to where Sasha was walking forlornly. 

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked, looking at her. 

"Hm? Oh, nothing." She said, then looked up at him and noticed the worry in his eyes. She forced a smile. "Really. I'm fine. Just a little tired." 

"Are you sure?" Sora asked, concerned. 

"Yeah, really. Believe me." Sasha said. Her smile still wasn't believable, but she grabbed him by his upper arm and pushed him forward. "Come on, you're holding everyone up!" 

"Who? Me?" Sora exclaimed as he got propelled forward. He smiled back at her. 

"Yes, you, now move it." She said, and they hurried up to catch up to the others, who were already at the gate that led to the Graveyard. 

"Well, now what?" Donald asked, scratching his head. 

"We should check behind some of these headstones." Jack answered, looking around a large, ornately carved headstone. "The secret passages are hidden behind them, but be careful, there might be ghosts around." 

"Ghosts!" Goofy exclaimed. "Gawrsh!" 

Donald looked in distaste at Goofy, who was now holding his arms close to himself and shaking visibly while looking around like a scared dog. 

"You're not afraid of facing down heartless, but you get scared of some little ghosts.... hmph..." Donald said, shaking his head, and turned to look back behind the headstone he'd been checking. A sudden puff of mist shot towards him, and he let out a yell as he dashed from the spot to hide behind Goofy. 

"Hyuk, guess you are too." Goofy chuckled. Donald glared at him. 

"Oh, be quiet." He grumbled. 

Sora laughed, and Jack joined in. Sasha couldn't help but crack a smile at them, her previous slightly darkened mood lifting slightly. Suddenly, there was a hush in the Graveyard. A cold wind blew in, and a group of flying heartless dropped from the sky, disrupting the moment of serenity and throwing them all into attack mode. 

"There's so many, where are they coming from?" Jack called out, taking out one heartless only to have another fly at him. 

"And there's more coming!" Donald exclaimed, sending a fireball at a mummy-like heartless that was rising out of the ground.   
"This isn't good!" Sora yelled as he took down two more heartless. Three of the mummy heartless were dancing just outside his reach, and two flying heartless dropped down at him. Before the keyblade could connect, though, both of them seemed to have teleported away, only to reappear a moment later behind him. 

"There's too many!" Sasha said, hopping onto a headstone and swinging her axe wildly. One of the flying heartless got clipped in the wing and crashed to the ground. Goofy jumped on it, bashing it with his shield. 

"I think it best if we retreated for now." Jack supplied, knocking a few heartless out of the way. 

"Okay, everyone, lets get out of here!" Sora called out, knocking more heartless around and turning to look at the others.

"You guys go first," Sasha said, growling as she took the head off of a mummy heartless. Noticing their looks, she glared at them. "Wings? Remember? It'll be easier for me to get out of here than you." 

Sora looked at her for a second, panting, then nodded. 

"She's right. Come on, let's go!" He called out. The others didn't need to be told twice, and the four dashed their way towards the entrance to the Graveyard, heartless trailing them. Many of the heartless that were attacking Sasha turned and started after the retreating group, maybe drawn after them because of the power of the keyblade, maybe for some other reason. Whatever it was, Sasha knew they had to be stopped so that the others could reach the gate, so she took a breath, then shot a bolt of lightning out at the heartless. One mummy like heartless caught the bolt in the back, shaking with the impact. It fell to the ground, and some of thsoe around it stopped, then turned to look at her. The hit heartless rose from the ground, slowly as if sore, then turned in her direction. 

"Come get some..." Sasha said, readying her axe. Before she had a chance to use it, a flying heartless, black deformed head thrust into her direct line of sight, appeared right in front of her. It screeched and landed on her, knocking her back off the headstone and onto a large slab of stone. She heard someone call out her name, but was much to busy trying to get the heartless off of her to figure out who it was. The scratches left on her arms from its claws were numbing them, and the frozen sensation was making it harder for her to move. There was a sudden click, and a grate of what seemed to be stone on stone,nand the heartless took the air in surprise. Before she could move, the stone beneath her shuddered, then flipped over, taking her with it. She was dropped down a tunnel, and rolled her way through its twists and turns, eventually falling onto what seemed to be vines. She lay there on her stomach, gingerly stretching her wings out and grimacing at the bumps and bruises she had received. With a sigh she pushed herself up and patted herself off, then took a look around. 

She seemed to have landed in a gigantic pumpkin patch. She had seen one not far from the Graveyard before, but this one seemed to be somewhere else, and farther away from the town. The faint lights of the town glimmered, not entirely far off but definitely farther than she had thought she was. Something tugged at her boot, and she looked down in surprise to find some of the vines beginning to wrap themselves around her foot. She shook them off, but while she was shaking one foot the other was being attacked. She stepped up onto a rather large pumpkin finally, where the vines found it somewhat more   
difficult to catch her, and sighed. No matter what, everywhere she went, something was out to get her. She looked off into the direction that the town was in, and wondered whether flying wouldn't be too difficult. A bird suddenly called out from the darkness, and she turned to see a large crow flying low over the pumpkin patch. It turned towards the town, but as it did something shot up out of the patch, a large plant-like thing that could only be compared to a giant venus flytrap, and snapped it out of the air. Sasha paled a bit, staring at the spot the bird had been in for a little while. Whatever had taken that bird down was much bigger than the avian itself. Big enough to catch her, in fact. She swallowed shakily, deciding that flying might not be the best option in this case.

Looking down, she realized that she should be able to hop from pumpkin to pumpkin, making her way across the patch and back to town that way. She sighed at the thought of all the effort that would take, but was certain that it would be better than ending up food for whatever that plant was. She hopped over to the next pumpkin, steadying herself with her wings, and then to the next. A while later she stopped and looked towards the town again, but it didn't seem any closer. Nothing had appeared to change, nothing except a sudden drop not far in front of her. She took off across the pumpkins again, and made it to the ledge of the drop. It was hard to see beyond the lip of the gorge, greenish gray mist floated up out of it, and there seemed to be something flickering down in it, casting strange shadows onto the mist. 

Sasha paused, considering what to do. Even if she didn't want to go down into the gorge, it meant she'd have to bypass it to keep on the road to the town. Looking to the sides, she couldn't see the ends of the gorge, which meant it was much larger than she'd like it to be. 

That left only the other option: go down. She sighed, readied her wings, and jumped into the chasm. 

Minute feather control kept her descending at a steady, unhurried pace. She'd been floating for almost a half a minute when a change came. A rock suddenly appeared directly beneath her, previously hidden beneath a cloud of mist, and she had to pull one wing and stretch the other to dodge to one side and around it. More rocks, most sharp and   
menacing, began showing themselves, and now she flapped slightly, moving forward through the thick mist in an effort to find someplace to land. 

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...." Sasha told herself, squinting as she attempted to see through the mist. Finally, rocks ceased appearing, and she dropped carefully, her feet finding purchase on un-spiked, though not entirely solid, ground. She lifted one foot and heard the squelch of boot sinking into mud as she put it down again. "Great. Wonderful. Why not?" 

She fluttered her wings, then started forward through the fog, her axe at ready and her senses intent on picking up anything strange. A slight glow appeared on her left at one moment, and she turned toward it, walking in its direction, and it grew brighter with each of her steps. Then she noticed that it wasn't so much as the glow was getting brighter, as that the mist was getting thinner. She could finally see the ground she stood on, and recoiled to see it a deep, red color, with cracks of purple and deep diseased green in it, the green being what made the ground so wet and muddy. She grimaced, but set off forward again, determined to reach this light source in front of her.

The mist suddenly dissipated, fading to reveal a moonlit stream, tainted green like the veins that ran through the ground beneath her feet. Above the mist was pulled back, letting the full moon's light fall over the ground and onto a figure that stood at the streams edge, its back toward Sasha. She squinted through the filtering moonlight and last traces of mist, then took a few steps forward. The figure seemed to have heard her, and its head turned slightly in her direction. She gasped as she recognized the person and dashed forward.

"Riku?!" She called, coming to a halt a few feet away from him. He turned to face her, surprised.

"Sasha? What? What are you doing here? I thought..." He didn't finish his thought, just stood there and looked at her for a moment. His outfit had changed for Halloween Town also, now all black. His pants had three horizontal silver stripes on the bottoms, and his sleeveless black shirt had a stylized heart on it, with a line crossing through it. His arms were covered in black fishnet and he had his black gloves on.

"The book..." Sasha began, then paused. "The book, it sent me back to where my home world used to be..."

"Used to...?" Riku began to ask, but then it dawned on him.

"Yeah, since it's controlled by the darkness now, it doesn't actually 'exist' here anymore. I got dumped into the middle of gummi space." Sasha grinned wryly, as if it were something funny.

"But then, how'd you get here?" Riku asked, turning to face her fully. She gave him a long look, trying to decide what to tell him, whether to tell him. Something was still wrong here. Something was even more wrong than before.

"Well, that's the thing. You wouldn't believe it, I happened to be found by Sora... he's here, in Halloween Town." She said, but noticing the sudden darkening in Riku's eyes, she added quietly, "I'm not sure if it's a good thing..."

Riku's eyes had turned hateful and cold, a withering look that made her feel as if he wanted nothing so much as to tear her, or Sora, apart. She steeled herself, though, and added what she had on her mind.

"You know, you should really go talk to him..." Sasha said. Riku sneered, then turned away, back towards the green stream.

"Hmph... I have more important things to do right now." He said, his voice toned important and detached. Sasha looked at him incredulously, beginning to seethe. This was really getting ridiculous, she thought. Sora wants to find him, but he doesn't want to find Sroa. Or rather, he had wanted to, but now he seemed to suddenly hate Sora, but if she remembered correctly, was still worried about the girl that they were both looking for. And here he was, in the same world as Sora but instead of going to find him he was being stupid and stubborn and refusing to even think about what good might happen if he did. She growled, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

"Important things? Like what? Being Maleficent's little messenger boy?" She snarled, her wings flickering slightly, her feathers sending off tiny blue sparks. Riku turned slightly to look at her from the side, his eyes narrowing.

"This coming, of all people, from **you**." He sneered, his gaze icy.

"At least I wasn't doing it willingly." She said her voice low and poisonous. Riku whipped around to face her, his eyes blazing.

"Go ahead, say that again, I dare you." He said his voice dangerous.

"I will. I wasn't the one who went running around like an idiot, ignoring his friends whenever they showed up and sticking around with whoever was bossing me around just because I _felt like it_." Sasha growled her stance stiff and her wings half-unfolded.

"You don't know anything..." Riku said his voice quiet and barely audible. He was shaking with barely controlled rage, his breath coming fast, his eyes glittering viciously in the bright moonlight. Sasha tensed, sensing some change coming about. Something was growing behind those turquoise eyes, something she wasn't so sure she wanted to meet. Her confidence faltered a bit as the look in his eyes grew, a strange light flickering across their surfaces.

"You don't know anything!" He roared, launching himself at her. She froze in shock, and that moment of weakness cost her as riku rammed into her, knocking her down. He stood over her, panting heavily, his eyes glaring hatefully and his lips twisted in a vicious snarl. She twisted to her side, but was frozen by the look in his eyes. His entire body was shaking with pent up rage, but his eyes were cold, emotionless, a little too bright... a little too... hungry...

"R-Riku..." She managed to breathe, her fingers digging into the muddy ground beneath her, her wings trembling fitfully. He continued to stare at her with those eyes, those inhuman eyes, while the rest of him seethed with such passion that it was driving into the very center of her, effectively freezing whatever anger she had possessed a moment before. She kicked into the ground weakly, trying to push herself away from him, terrified of what she was feeling, terrified of what she saw in his eyes.

A change came, suddenly, as if lightning had struck, a rapid disintegration of whatever it was that was behind the coldness, brightness, in his eyes. The feeling of hatred and seething anger disappeared, vanished, and he stood over her, his eyes suddenly wide and _awake_, his breath caught in his throat as some sort of realization came over him. He took a step back, then another, his eyes flickered around and he looked for all the world like a trapped animal, a small creature caught between razor rocks and glistening, slavering teeth. Without a word he bolted, took off running into the mist, the only sound the squelch of his boots in the mud.

Sasha lay for a moment, shocked and disturbed, her breath coming in rapid bursts as she struggled to dissect what had happened. Something was wrong. Something was horribly, viciously wrong. Riku hadn't been like this, he hadn't been this malicious, so cold. Something was extremely not right.

She pushed herself off the ground, ignoring the mud that was clinging to her clothes, and looked around. She listened intently, and some far off sounds reached her through the thick mist that bordered the stream. She took a breath.

"Okay. Yeah. Gonna do this." She said to herself. There was no other choice; Sora was no doubt closer to Halloween Town, and she didn't have time to go back there to find him. She turned to face the mist and steeled herself. Something was going wrong, and she was determined to find out what.

Endnotes: So yes. The chase begins. Well, what do you guys think?

Oh, and yes, I sorta skipped the part where there's the ship and neverland and kairi and stuff because I'm STUPID but don't worry it'll all work out in the end. It happened. We can assume that Sora told Sasha parts of it. But yeah. Erk.

Thanks to:

Magic Blue Fire Kitsune: yes, this update took forever too. heh I'll try for the next one to be sooner, yeah? Yeah.... gives you cookies

Sugar-high Strawberry: Oooooo marshmallows? Can I have some? I love cats too, even though I don't have one. Heh, did this chapter answer your question, somewhat? steals a Riku plushie and runs off laughing madly

Sarah: Did ya like it? Huh? Maybe I'll make you my beta reader, so that you can read over the story before its posted and go 'Zo, what the hell, you're missing the part where they're on the ship and Kairi's there and Sora fights his evil shadow clone..." yeah. Because that's exactly what I did. Hmm, lets just pretend that Sasha was drifting around in gummi space for a very very long time....

Besides, if you become my beta reader, then you can kick my ass and go 'Zo, update! NOWWWW!!!' and I'd have to.

Laters,

Zo


	17. Halloween TownHollow Bastion: Revelation...

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not owned by me, but by SquareEnix and some such…

Author Notes:

This one made me hurt. It made this little black heart of mine ache. Oh yes it did. It was going to be split into two chapters, but I decided against it. I hate it when chapters are 2-3 pages long and leave you at an EXTREME cliffhanger, so yeah. La la.

Don't hate me too much. Okay?

And hey, if I was possessed by some evil dead guy, I'd be having major mood swings too…

Sephy: (eating a Nutter Butter cookie) Erhrm… you are.

Well, that sure explains a lot.

Music that played during the entire writing of this chapter: "One Winged Angel" Nobuo Uematsu (Kingdom Hearts Version)

RARRRRG!!

* * *

Chapter 15 

Sasha dashed through the thick mist, her feet sinking into the mud with each step. It took an extreme effort to pull them out of the muck, and more than once she glanced longingly up into the air. Flying was out of the question, though, since in the thick mist she doubted she'd be able to see well, and she didn't feel like risking falling on one of the sharp spikes that seemed to litter the chasm. Besides, she was having quite enough trouble listening for the sound of Riku's running as it was. Being in the air among the thickest of the mist would mean losing what little direction she had.

Her legs were beginning to ache from all the running she'd had done that day, and what she really wanted was to be able to sit down for a while and catch her breath. Even as she ran, though, Riku's footsteps sounded farther and farther away, and she didn't want to take the chance of losing them entirely. The mist was growing thicker, although it seemed to be clearing close to the ground, and the odd colored cloud seemed to hover a foot above the multi-colored mud. She struggled onward, noticing as she did that the mud was getting wetter and each step harder to pull out of the ooze. Her foot caught in an especially stubborn patch of mud, and pulling it out, she stumbled forward, nearly falling. She caught herself, but not before her feet splashed in what seemed to be water. She paused a moment, her breath coming quick, and squinted through the mist to try and see what it was she splashed into.

The gray green haze filtered slightly, some moonlight from above coming through, and she saw in front of her another river, though smaller than the first. She squinted, leaning with her hands on her knees as she struggled to catch her breath. Something flickered in the water, coming closer to the shore. She gasped and took a surprised step back as a head splashed out of the water, followed by scaly shoulders and arms and clawed hands. The monster looked at her for a moment, yellow eyes glowing in its seaweed green face, its gill covers flapping slightly.

"What do you want?" It said, its voice somewhere between a hiss and a gurgle. It shifted slightly, its arms folded in front of it on the bank, the rest of its body still submerged.

"I… I'm looking for someone." Sasha panted slight, then took a deep breath, eyeing the creature warily.

"Hm? Someone? What kind of…someone?" The creature asked, leaning forward slightly, flicking its tail against the surface of the water.

"A boy. Taller than me, with silver hair." Sasha said, holding her hand up to Riku's height. "He was running this way."

"Hm…" The creature seemed to think for a moment, holding its chin with one scaly hand. "Nope. Don't believe I've seen anyone like that come through here."

"But…" Sasha shook her head. "No, he had to come by here. Where else could he have gone?"

"Of course," The monster continued, shrugging. "Of course, I only came up to the surface when you showed up. I could have missed him."

Sasha paused, and then glared at the creature. She turned around and stalked off, her wings twitching.

"Hey, where are you going?" The creature called after her, and she paused. "Won't you stay… for dinner?"

She turned around to see it half out onto the bank, clawed hands digging into the muddy ground, its mouth twisted into a malicious grin, sharp teeth glistening in the faded light. A shudder ran through her, and she started to back off.

"Er, no, that's alright." She said, then turned and walked off as quickly as she could.

She walked on for a while, then sighed. She'd lost him, and she was sure she'd lost herself too. The mist around her was as thick as ever, and now, everywhere she turned there was a mound of stone or some half-dead tree in her way. She turned to the right, and had to stop quickly to keep from running into a boulder. She turned the other way only to hit her head on a low-hanging branch.

"Ouch." She said, rubbing her head gingerly and looking around, grimacing. She took a deep breath and then started again, this time holding her hands out in front of her to keep her from running into things.

She didn't know quite how long she spent in the maze, but gradually she began to notice a change. The ground beneath her feet was becoming firmer and drier, and had started to be elevated, tilting up at a progressively sharper angle. She followed the slope, and soon the mist began to clear. Just as she thought she was getting somewhere, more and more trees began appearing, along with shrubs, most affectively barring her way. She was tired; her legs ached, and she was seriously considering just sitting down and giving up. Searching for a way past the low-lying branches, she noticed a broken branch. And past it, another broken one. Someone had been through here, she thought excitedly, and recently.

She followed the trail the broken branches opened, slowly moving up what seemed to be a side of a large hill. The going was hard, and numerous scratches appeared on her arms and face. She stopped a moment to rest, then continued, pushing aside branches and kicking at shrubs that were in her way. She imagined she must've sounded like an elephant walking through there, especially since there was no more mist to hide the sound.

She stumbled out of the last line of trees into wonderful, wonderful open air and took a deep breath. Her breath caught, however, when she saw the top of the hill. Giant, an ancient no doubt, the tree stood at the crown of the hill, large and unmoving. It leafless branches reached out in all directions, giant thick arms that seemed to branch beyond the hill itself. On its lowest two branches, four skeletons were hung, two to a branch, their bones stirring softly. The great tree, dark brown with age, was covered in cracks over its jagged bark. Three of the cracks seemed to form closed eyes and a twisted, frowning mouth. Sasha stood there for a moment, staring up at the mammoth tree, her breath finally catching up to her as she took in the sight.

Her eyes shifted downward, and she rushed closer to the edge of the crown of the hill. Riku stood there, looking up into the branches, looking thoroughly absorbed in the tree.

"Riku!" Sasha called out, surprised that she had actually found him again after losing him in the mist.

He turned, too quickly, as if frightened, his eyes wide, his breath coming quick.

"Riku, what…" Sasha started to take a few steps, but Riku called out.

"Don't!" He said, backing away slightly. He pulled his arms close to himself. "Don't… don't come closer…"

"What… Riku, what's wrong?" She asked. Her gaze is suddenly shifted to the tree. Was it just her, or did it seem to lean away as Riku drew closer to it? She shoved the thought away and focused back on Riku.

"Something's wrong… something…" Riku started, stopped. His eyes began to flicker slightly, darker to lighter to darker again. "I… there's… I can't remember…"

"What? What is it?" Sasha asked, taking a step forward.

"That's the thing. I know it's important," Riku said desperately, shaking his head. "But I don't know what it is… I don't remember…"

Sasha took another step closer, then another.

"And… and whenever I start thinking… whenever I start thinking about… about Sora… about everyone…" His hands gripped his head as if it pained him, his fingers twisting in his hair. "Whenever I do… all I can think… all… all I can think about is how he left me… how they all left me…"

Sasha paused, alarmed by the way his voice had suddenly grown quiet. He was trembling, she saw, his breath coming ragged as his hand clenched tighter.

"But Riku, Sora didn't-" She started, but he glanced up at her sharply, his hands dropping.

"You left me too!" His voice sounded near hysterical as he pointed at her, his hand shaking. "You did too… I thought you wouldn't, I thought, finally, I'd found someone different. Someone who wouldn't... I thought, I thought, maybe… just maybe, you wouldn't be like them. But you were, you were just like them. And you left too…"

Sasha tried to speak, to say something, but his eyes caught her. She froze as the cold look touched her, felt her breath catch at the sudden appearance of _dark_ in them. Riku began to back towards the tree again, and the dysfunctional terror that seemed to have been affecting him dissipated.

"But that's all right. I'm used to it by now… I know better! I don't need you!" He sneered, his eyes narrowing. "I don't need Sora! I'll find Kairi! I'll get my world back, and I'll do it without help from any of you. "

The tree, so silent and unmoving a few moments earlier, was starting to shake, to twist. Groans came from the wood as the branches shifted and shook, twisted and untwisted. Sasha watched in horror as black stripes began running down it, covering it and twisting around it as its branches curled unnaturally, spasms rocking its great trunk.

"I'll get the power and I'll do it myself." Riku said, his voice low, dangerous, but triumphant, his sneer turning into a grin.

The tree was morphing more now, inky black, and the skeletons began shaking, their bones rattling like horrible chimes. The cracks on the tree's bark shifted, opened. Two parted to reveal glowing yellow hollows, bright and vigilant. The third crack opened, shifted into a jagged maw, the hollow behind it slightly glowing purple. The skeletons twisted and deformed, turning a blue-black and growing spines and horns. Their mouths opened to reveal fire, their eye-holes glowing eerily.

"Oh…no…" Sasha fumbled for her axe, her eyes fixed on the monstrous creature in front of her.

Riku smirked, a sinister grin, his eyes shining with quite a different light. He dodged around the tree's trunk and disappeared, heading down the other side of the hill. Sasha spared a glance after him, but then the tree let out a loud groan, and she focused back on it.

"This is… bad. Very very bad…" She said, jumping as a branch swung her way. She flapped quickly, and flew above it, her axe's blade cutting a sliver off of it. Another branch swung around and smacked her in the side, but she recovered and dodged a third branch, cutting off a few small branchlets off the main one.

"Grrrr…" She dodged a barrage of leafless branches that the tree shot out at her, and attempted to try to see where Riku had gotten to. A branch swung up beneath her, and the skeleton's on it opened their mouths, releasing a wave of fire at her. She twisted a wing and attempted to dive out of the way, but the trailing edge of the flames caught her leg, scorching her slightly, but thankfully not burning her pant leg. She readied her axe to swing at the closest branch, but was suddenly yanked out of the air and swung around wildly. She nearly freaked for a moment, almost dropping her axe, but regained her composure and swung the blade, cutting into and through the branchlets that held her.

The force of the swing was still with her, and she closed her wings as it tossed her out past the tree and towards the other side of the hill. Spreading her wings once she was out of the tree's range, she halted her sharp fall and began gliding down. Its then that she noticed Riku. Having reached the bottom of the hill, he glanced back towards the top and grinned maliciously. He stuck his hand out into the air in front of him.

"Oh no you don't…." Sasha hissed, and snapped her wings into diving position, narrow and angled to offer maximum speed.

Riku, noticing her, frowned, and the portal swirled open in front of him. Sasha narrowed her wings even more, not far away now, as he dashed through the portal. Wings flaring to keep her from crashing, Sasha hit the ground at a run and jumped through the portal a half second after Riku had disappeared into it.

The portal flickered for a moment, then closed with a soft hush, like the sigh of the wind through the evening fog, and all faded to darkness.

Sasha stirred, trying to feel if her limbs were all there. There was an ache in her head, growing somewhere from the back, and she winced as she sat up slowly, her eyes flickering.

"Why did you follow me?"

Riku's voice shocked her, and her eyes snapped wide. He was crouching in front of her, eyeing her coldly, and she was overcome by that fear again. Why did she ever think she could be a warrior, she wondered. She twitched, staring at him, her wings fluttering.

"Hm…" Riku tilted his head slightly. "What to do. I could just leave you here for Malificent. She doesn't take kindly to intruders…"

"You're not Riku." Sasha burst out, pulling away. For a second that didn't even make sense to her. Here he was, same hair, same eyes, same face. But it was all different. It hadn't changed, but it had. This wasn't him.

"What?" Riku frowned, his eyes flickering. "What are you talking about, Sasha?"

Sasha didn't reply, and instead slid away from him, eyes wide and fixed on him. She couldn't help it, every ounce of her body was screaming at her to run, run. Riku watched her, a curiously puzzled look on his face.

"Sasha?" He asked, still frowning slightly, almost thoughtfully.

"You're…" Sasha faltered slightly. Whatever force had been there so forcefully had receded, but she wasn't fooled. "You're not Riku."

Following him didn't seem like such a great idea anymore. She could think of dozens of reasons, now, why she shouldn't have been so eager to discover what was wrong. She stood up, backing away even more, and Riku continued to watch her.

"Of course I am." He said, a little frustrated, still puzzled. "Who else could I be?"

"I don't know…" Her eyes wide, she found herself struggling vainly against the flight effect. Her eyes flickered left and right as she stood there, shaking slightly.

"Sasha-" Riku started.

"I need to get out of here." She said, her voice quiet but filled with fear. She turned around to look, then realized with a shock that she'd just turned her back to Riku. Visions of what happened at the riverbank and the tree shoot back, and she whirled around to face him again, backing away.

"Sasha… Sasha, listen," Riku said, standing up slowly. "I'm sorry about what I did. I… I don't know why I do these things, Sasha. I don't know why I keep… why I do it. Sasha, don't leave."

His tone turned desperate, and Sasha saw that his eyes had changed, a tired look come into them that she hadn't seen before. But flight was attacking her senses now, and faced with an unknown horror in a place that had never boded well for her before, she was finding it difficult to think of anything other than running away. Her eyes flickered around the room, and she saw two doors. The only problem was that they both were situated in the walls behind RIku.

"I know you're scared, Sasha…" Riku said, desperately, his eyes showing he was definitely scared too. "But don't leave. Don't leave me…"

Sasha was torn; what was she supposed to do? Stay and risk that…_that_ would come out again? Or leave and take her chances in this castle of horrors? She shook her head, her fear getting the best of her, and took off across the floor.

Riku was caught off guard, not really expecting her to bolt like she had. It took only a moment for him to recover, and he took off. It was a mad dash, but he caught her, tackling her down. They rolled a little, but Riku grabbed her shoulders and held her down, looking at her desperately, pleadingly.

"Sasha, Sasha, please!" His voice was tinged with sadness and frustration.

"I can't… I can't…" Sasha whimpered, clutching his arms tightly, squirming in his hold. "You're not Riku. I don't know who you are…"

"Don't leave me!" Riku cried desperately, clutching her shoulders tighter.

"I don't know you!" Sasha whimpered again, shaking her head. "I don't know you…"

"Something's wrong. Something's not right…" Riku was desperate, his hands shaking as he looked her in the eyes. He couldn't bear the thought of having her leave again. Leave him all alone here, all alone without anyone. "No matter how light it is, everything's dark. Everything's in shades of grey and getting darker… Sasha, help me!"

The girl trembled; no matter how hard she tried she couldn't get out of his grip. It was as if he'd gotten a strange sort of strength. Something wasn't right. She no longer recognized the person before her. Even before, when this started, she knew it was Riku. She could close her eyes and _feel _it was him. Now, now…she didn't know what to think. She didn't know what to do. All she wanted to do was get away.

"No, no…" She squirmed, looking around desperately. "I don't know what you did to Riku, but you're not him. I don't know what you did… I can't feel him anymore! I can't…

Her words trembled away with another whimper. She shook as she looked back at him, back into those eyes. Eyes that were now wide with surprise, staring at her as if she'd just told him the secrets of the universe. His hands stopped shaking, and he felt his breath catch. Something close to paralyzing fear ran through him, some sort of ice that came with the revelation.

"When I look at you, all I see is shadows." Sasha continued. "All I see is darkness. All I feel is ice and cold. You're not Riku… I don't know you."

He stared at her, his hands slowly releasing their hold. He knelt back, staring at her with some strange mix of surprise and sadness, some fear and some understanding that suddenly crossed through him. How could she feel all that? How could she _know_ all that? Was that why she'd been so distant before, why she'd been so reluctant to be near him when they were alone together in the castle? Suddenly, a look of pain crossed his face, and he clutched his chest with a gasp. Whatever it was, it was racing through him, searing into him, and he fell forward, propping himself up with one arm as his forehead touched the ground.

Sasha sat up slowly, warily, watching him as he struggled against the pain, his breath coming fast and ragged. She pulled herself into a crouch, still watching him, then stood up and started backing away slowly.

He gasped again at the sound of her footsteps, and his voice was sad and desperate, twisted with pain.

"Don't… Don't leave, Sasha… Please, don't… don't leave me…" He didn't have the strength to move, to even lift up his head and look after her. The pain was growing, growing, and he clenched his teeth as tears began to drip to the ground. He didn't want to be alone. Not again. He was terrified, he knew what the darkness was, he knew it was coming. And, horrible realization, he knew he couldn't fight it. He knew he was going to lose.

Sasha paused for a moment. Her mind screamed at her, telling her to get out of there, but she watched him for a second, slightly grimacing at the thought of the pain he might be in. He could be fighting it, she thought for a moment, then frowned. No, she wasn't going to be here when _that_ came again. Guilt flooded her, but survival was too big a prize to throw away, and she made her way quickly to the nearest door. Opening it, she gazed into the dark hallway before her, and without a look back dodged into the shadows.

The door closed with a groan, wood grinding on stone, and all turned to darkness.

* * *

Endnotes: 

I figured out how to remedy the Kairi-not-found-yet problem. Obviously, this was all BEFORE that happened. laughs fakely Obviously. Anyways, now the problem starts. Joy.

**IMPORTANT**

Please, get me feedback about this:

I mentioned the sequels before, I will mention them again.

I'm playing on a major sequel. But between this story and the sequel there will be three mini-stories. One featuring Sora, one featuring Riku, and one featuring Sasha. They will be at most 5 chapters long, and will lead up to almost the beginning of the sequel. The sequel will have Kairi in it a lot more than any of these stories do. And Sephiroth will return. Sephy: ALL RIGHT! WHOO!> er yes…

Please tell me if you like the idea or not. Thanks

Thanks to:

Magic Blue Fire Kitsune: hands out more cookies>

Malignant-Paroxysm: Hope you enjoyed this one. Although I still hurt… hurt…

And everyone else! Thanks for reading, I hope the experience was somewhat enjoyable.

If you feel like it, check out this pic: http:www. deviantart. com/ deviation /12983261 / I actually drew people! The horror! And Sephy's in it. Cuz he's been beggin like a poor man to be featured in something and it was getting pathetic.

Laters, Zo


	18. Hollow Bastion : Running in Circles

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not mine. Riku is not mine, although I have made many offers. Never heard back on them, either. dammit...

A/N: Sephy says I have to stop reading sadistic fanfics. I have no idea what he's talking about.

Sephy: She's beating me with an eggbeater! AN EGGBEATER!

Honestly, I have no idea what he's talking about. (hides eggbeater)

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I had much fun writing it. Oh yes I did. The next one should be good too. Oh boy.... Anyways, buildup for one of the mini-sequels in this, just to let you know. Rarg, I like Riku. Eeee... that was totally random.

Enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 16 

Sasha moved slowly, her back against the wall, then stopped to listen. It had been a few days since she'd gotten here, and after that mad dash out of the room, she'd made it down to the lower levels of the castle and hidden in what seemed to be an out-of-use dungeon. After the panic wore off, she came to the sickening realization that she was stuck here. Without the stone, without the courage to face Riku, she had no way of getting out of this world. She had lain low for a almost two days, only leaving the room she had hidden in to take a quick look around and to take care of the small heartless that had come too close.

Now, though, both hunger and dim hope of escape had driven her out of hiding and into the higher levels of the castle. She'd met with a few heartless along the way, doing her best to eradicate all that saw her. It wouldn't do any good for one of them to go running back to Maleficent and telling her just who was in her castle, and where. Doing so was more than difficult, and she was resorting to stealthier methods of making it through the hallways.

She creeped up silently to the corner, leaned over to look past it. Fingering the rock she had taken with her, she tossed it into the hallway, watching as it clattered against the stone floor and rolled through an open doorway. Almost immediately heartless appeared. A large one with the biting shield, and two wizards. All three looked at the ground for a moment, then the large one shuffled through the doorway. The wizards followed after him, and as soon as the last one passed into the next room Sasha hopped out. Beating her wings furiously and pushing off the wall, she managed to fly past the room and into the next corridor. Landing lightly, she crept down the length of the wall, pausing at the next corner. She sighed inwardly as she pulled another rock out of her pocket. It was a painfully slow technique, but it was keeping her from getting ripped apart by the beasts. She looked around the corner and readied the stone, then frowned. Something was bothering her. She gripped the stone, then whipped around and flung it back the way she had come.

Riku tilted his head to the right, dodging the stone, then quickly reached out and grabbed her still-upheld arm. Sasha froze, in the first moment of surprise, the next terror. She stared at him, not even attempting to pull her arm out of his hold. In his turn, Riku watched her. His hold was light, and had she wanted to she could probably have pulled free. In all honesty he didn't know what he wanted to do. He had wanted to find her, but now, looking at her, seeing the fear in her eyes, he didn't like the idea any more. Besides, what was he going to say? Sorry for going AWOL and setting a Heartless tree on you? But now he was here, and it seemed he should say something before the rising fear in the girl's eyes reached a critical point.

"Sasha... Sasha, just stay calm, okay?" He said, in what he hoped was a genuinely gentle voice. In truth, her fear was making it difficult for him to keep his own voice from shaking. "I"m... i'm not going to hurt you..."

"...said the spider to the fly..." Sasha muttered, but her voice faded into a whimper. Riku frowned slightly, and with a sigh released her arm. She pulled back, but didn't bolt. It was missing, today, it seemed. She took another step back, just to be on the safe side.

"I didn't mean to..." Riku started, stopped. What could he say? How could he say it?

"Sorry excuse," Sasha snapped back, and then stopped, surprised at her own audacity. Where had that come from? Focusing back on Riku, she tried to ignore the hum that seemed to be coming from the Masamune hanging on her back.

"I... Listen, I've caused you enough trouble. The least I can do is get you out of here." Riku said finally, then grimaced. "It might take a little bit, though. Maleficent has all sorts of spells going right now, if I try the portal without her knowing it might throw something out of whack. Not only would it get you nowhere but she'd be really angry..."

Sasha looked at him suspiciously. She wasn't sure what to do, now. She wasn't sure if she could really trust him in this. She looked around, turning slightly to look behind her. Something struck her as odd. Quite a lot of time had passed with them standing there in the hallway; generally, the hearless would be all over a place that contained hearts to be stolen.

"Where are all the heartless? Shouldn't they be crawling all over by now?" She asked suddenly, still looking behind her. She didn't see the sudden tightness on Riku's face, the tension between frown and grin that crossed his face. "Why aren't they here?"

"I... I told them not to come." Riku said nonchalantly. Sasha whipped around to face him.

"What?" She said, shocked. "You're telling me you can control these things now?"

"Sasha, just listen, I just want to help you," Riku tried to get her to listen, but she was on an entirely different topic now.

"I mean, damn, I should've known with the tree thing, but that's like calling a heartless. I mean, if I tried hard enough and long enough, maybe I'd be able to call heartless too." Sasha continued on, speaking right over his words. "But controlling them? That is something entirely different. That is something really, really different."

"Sasha..." Riku attempted again. "I want to help you. Just give me the chance, I'll get you out of here. Safely."

"Hmph," She looked at him, crossing her arms. She didn't know what was getting into her, one moment she was cowering in fear, the next she was snapping back at Riku, her fear gone. She decided not to think on it and pushed it out of her mind, along with the slightly growing humming coming from the Masamune.

"Please?" Riku said, resorting to one thing he had never wanted to do: begging. "Come on, I'm sure you're hungry. We can go to the kitchen and I'll get you some food. I'll make sure Maleficent knows nothing, and then get a portal as soon as possible and get you out of here."

Sasha still looked at him skeptically. The hallway behind her was clear, and she had her axe. And rocks. Plenty and plenty of rocks. Although rocks wouldn't do too good when you're starving, her stomach reminded her, growling loudly. She frowned at it, then looked back up at Riku, thoughtfully.

"Food first.But I swear, you so much as **touch** me and I'm shoving my axe into that pretty head of yours, got it?" Sasha said, sounding much braver than she actually felt. Where was all this bravado coming from? She was getting confused, just slightly, but decided to leave it for that night.

Riku was slightly surprised at that comment, but reminded himself that he'd probably say the same thing if he'd been her. He relaxed slightly, not having realized he'd been so tense, and managed a sad sort of half-grin.

"Fine. Follow me." Riku said, and led the way to the kitchen.

Sasha sat in the library, leafing through the heavy book she was holding. Riku had kept his word so far, keeping both Maleficent and the heartless from finding her. She turned another page, trying to see if there was any information about that amulet that Sephiroth had spoken about. She scanned over the page quickly, turning to the next one. Her concentration was broken by the sound of someone knocking, and she looked up to see Riku standing next to a bookcase not far from her, hand still resting on the spot where he had knocked.

"Hey," She said, not entirely coldly, and he grinned, just slightly, but his eyes were dim.

"Hey, good news." He said, stepping a bit closer. He stopped a few feet away from her, careful not to make her uncomfortable. The past few days he'd been careful to knock whenever she was focused on something else, worried that if she grew scared again she'd leave him. He was terrified of it, it was the truth. He was more comfortable with the darkness now. He was learning so much, but knowing that that learning was the cause of her pain hurt him. He'd much rather keep her hidden away in the castle, close to him, someone that he could run to when Maleficent turned scary, when the darkness began closing in too tight. But he knew he couldn't do that, not now. Not after what he'd done.

"What's the word?" Sasha said, perking up. She closed the book and shoved it to the side, standing up and stretching her wings.

"Well, actually, its sorta half and half." Riku said, then added quickly when she frowned. "I can get you out of here, but only to Limbo."

"Only Limbo?" Sasha said thoughtfully, then shrugged. Anyplace was better than here, she thought. "Works for me."

"Are you sure?" Riku asked. He wouldn't have admitted it, but there was a part of him that hoped she would've said no, that she'd wait until the portal could open somewhere else.

"Yeah," Sasha said, grinning. She spread her arms out. "Get me out of here!"

Riku couldn't help but grin at her enthusiasm. As hard as it was, he held out a hand and focused, opening a slightly swirling, glowing portal. His grin faded, then. As soon as she stepped through, she'd be gone from him. He'd be alone, again. Only this time, it'd be thanks to him.

"Riku..." Sasha paused as she was about to go through the portal. "Thanks. I really mean it."

She smiled at him, then, a real smile, and he felt warmth spread through him. He did the right thing, he knew it. He returned her smile, and she faded away into the portal. He sighed as it closed and turned away, walking towards the doors.

_So, you let her go..._

He stopped, looking around warily.

_Into Limbo... who knows what she could find there..._

The voice sounded sickly sweet, as if on the verge of laughing, and a sudden chill went through Riku. His breath caught as he realized something; his portals had never failed him before. Why could he only open one to Limbo, when usually he could open them into any world? Why...?

The voice laughed in answer, and Riku felt the cold creeping into him, through him. Oh no, he thought, not again. He was going to do it again.

Dark surrounded her, and she felt she could cry. She never thought she could be so happy to be back in this dark hole, but she was. Limbo surrounded her, fading, appearing, and she sat down, overwhelmed by it. She was free, she thought, free from that horrible castle. From the fear that had plagued her all her time in it. She shook her head, then looked around contentedly. Maybe, she thought, maybe Sephiroth had been sent back here! The thought made her giddy. As crazy as her time with him had been, she desperately wanted to see him. When she knew he was around, she didn't feel so scared, so lost. Just knowing his presence was somewhere where she could reach him consoled her.

Standing up she set off to look through the area she was in.There were the disappearing walls. A stove popped into existance, drifting a few feet before fading again. Voices murmured, only slightly though. She flinched as a lit candelabra appeared suddenly, illuminating her surroundings a bit more. She looked around, taking in the drifting, shifting walls. There was an armchair by one wall, looking suspiciously like the one that had last been there before Sephiroth had left for the battle. She made her way over to it and sat down. Something poked her from behind, and she reached back, slightly irritated, and pulled out a book. No, she looked at it closer, an album.

"My Friends, Best and Greatest: Anastasia Starler. Hmm.." Sasha opened the album and started looking through it. A smiling, brown haired girl looked up at her on the first page, her chocolate brown eyes glowing warmly. She smiled and turned the page, looking at the pictures. They were the regular sort, school pictures, pictures in front of a storefront, on a bridge. She turned the next page and gasped. "Is that...? Oh my gosh, it is! Sephiroth!"

She looked closer at the picture in the album, at the silver haired youth captured just as he was walking through a doorway. He didn't seem to be much older than she was in the picture, dressed in what seemed to be a black uniform. His eyes were narrowed, one eyebrow raised in annoyance, and his mouth was pulled into that smirk that she had grown to know. His silver hair was pulled back, although quite a few strands hung in front of his face. She smiled sadly, and a pang went through her. She didn't think she'd miss the psycho quite as much as she did. Sighing, she continued turning the pages. She lifted the album to a more comfortable position, and as the pages shifted something fell out. Curious, she picked up a length of chain, at the end of which hung a tri-colored stone in the shape of a triangle. Its center glowed eerily, and something struck her.

"This is it!" She said happily, sxcited by her find. This was the amulet Sephiroth had told her about. She hung the amulet around her neck to keep from losing it. Quickly she tucked the album into her pack and looked at the amulet intently. "Now, what do I do with it-"

A flash, and Limbo had disappeared from around her. She whirled around, recognizing the fountain in the entrance hall of Hollow Bastion. She let out a whimper, turned back to the doors and ran at them, pounding on them when they didn't open.

"Did you really think it'd be that easy?"

His quiet, nearly whispered voice reached her, and she whirled around. Her back smacked into the doors as she pulled back, wings stretched to either side, her hands plastered to the wood behind her. Riku stood before her, a smirk on his face, nothing but that cold, cold darkness in his eyes. She trembled as he walked forward, her legs not listening to her attempts to make them move. He walked up to her slowly, what seemed like an eternity passed as she stood there, fear locking her knees. He stopped before her, close, and leaned in slightly until his face was mere inches from hers. She whimpered and he chuckled, eyes glittering.

"You have something that I want." Riku said, his and while his head stayed still his gaze dropped to the amulet that was hung around her neck.

"N-no..." Sasha said, attempting to move sideways away from him. His arm struck out suddenly, pressing her shoulder back into the wood as his fingers dug into her arm. He grinned sadistically as she winced, taking pleasure in her pain.

"Why not give it to me?" He said, his voice low and sweet, so gentle. "You have no use for it. You don't even know what it is..."

"No... I c-can't." She said through gritted teeth as his grip on her became stronger. He brought up his other hand and brushed his fingers along the side of her face, down her neck to where the chain of the amulet rested. She whimpered, and his eyes bored into her, so dark. She shook her head, trying to break free of his hold, and he frowned. Grabbing her firmly by both shoulders he pulled her away from the doors and slammed her back into them. A cry of pain escaped her as the bones in the joints of her wings crushed painfully into the wood, her spine slamming into one of the protrubences in the carved doors. Her knees gave way, and she slid to the ground, Riku's hands on her shoulders all the way as he knelt down to her level again.

"I don't want to hurt you, Sasha," He said, his eyes, though dark, slightly concerned. He brushed a strand of hair off of her face, and his voice became hard. "Don't make me hurt you."

"No... you can't have it. I won't let you." She said, still shaking with fear. His face darkened, and a sneer spread across it. He gripped her shoulders again tightly, his strength surprising, and pulled her up as he stood. He held her close, their faces an inch apart, and glared into her eyes.

"You're making me do this, Sasha," He said angrily, then his voice changed to gentle again, his eyes saddened. "I'm so sorry. But its the only way..."

"No..." Sasha breathed, staring at him in terror.

"The only way..."

* * *

Endnotes: Thanks for reading. Please review, okay? I'm not going to beg, just, please please please review. 

Thank you everyone who's ever taken the time to read this crazy thing and review. As always, if anything seems to be wrong, feel free to correct me.

Dun dun dun... why does he want the amulet? Oooooo.... I can't wait to finish the next chap. Oh happiness!

Sephy: She's insane, i'm telling you. Insane! (Looks around) Ooo! Lollipops!

Oh, and the Kairi thing? Its allllll figured out... just in case you're wondering, this is after Neverland. I know I'm not exactly following the storyline all that great, but its difficult. Arg...

Laters everyone,

Zoshi


	19. Hollow Bastion: The End of the World Dra...

Disclaimer: I DID NOT KIDNAP RIKU! OR SORA! ALL LIES!....er... i mean... .Kingdom Hearts isn't mine.... YOU HAVE NO PROOF!!

A/N: So yeah, actually updated a week after the last update. I practically had this done two days later, but I waited. So here it is. Wheeee.... finally get to that PG-13 rating, i think. Ooooo I like this one. And SORA! YES SORA! OMGOMGOMG SORA!

(that was a tribute to all you Sora fangirls out there, yes YOU, Sarah! Seee, I like Sora! really...)

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter. I hope I cleared up just where in time this was, as in game-wise. And I like the way I started this one...

Enjoy!

(erk, glaring GLARING mistake. I fixed it, thanks Magic Blue Fire Kitsune for catching it. And you know, I was looking at it for five minutes, but my head wasn't working... sorry.)

* * *

Chapter 17 

The three were standing in one of Hollow Bastion's many hallways. Green light flickered on the walls as cura healed the worst of their wounds, which weren't that bad considering how much better they'd gotten in fighting the heartless. Sora grinned, swinging the Oathkeeper in a few slashes, then looked back at Goofy and Donald.

"Thanks Donald, I feel much better now." Sora said, resting the keyblade on his shoulder.

"No problem. Now lets get going. The sooner we get this over with, the sooner we get out of here." Donald said, starting off down the hallway.

"Hyuck, Donalds right." Goofy said, starting after the duck. He stopped and looked back at Sora. "Sora? Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, Goofy, don't worry about me." Sora grinned his famous grin and grabbed Goofy's arm, pulling him as he moved to catch up with Donald. "Hey, Donald, wait up!"

Sora grinned as the two caught up to Donald, but his thoughts were elsewhere. It was so strange, what had happened. Was what Riku had told him true? He sighed inwardly, his grin fading a bit. He hadn't wanted to fight his best friend, but Riku left him no choice. Why was he acting so strange, Sora thought. Couldn't he see that all Sora wanted to do was help him? His eyes downcast, he tried to understand why his friend had done what he did. Taking the keyblade from him, attacking him when the keyblade returned to Sora, and then running off without a word. When he'd first seen Riku, the older boy said he'd been looking for him, but ever since Neverland...no, ever since he'd been inside Monstro, Sora was hit, repeatedly, with the thought that that might not have been true. If he had really been looking for him, then why did he leave? Leave, like he'd been doing, without a word. What had possessed him to do attack Sora? More importantly, in Sora's mind, why wasn't Riku listening to him? Why was he acting like everything they'd done in the past, everything about the islands and all the friends they'd had, was no longer important?

He sighed, audibly this time, but although his two companions heard it, all they did was share a look and said nothing. Sora, his eyes on the floor, stopped suddenly and frowned.

"What is it?" Donald asked, turning to look back at Sora. The boy was standing in the middle of the intersection of two hallways.

"There's something on the floor..." Sora said, crouching down. There was a small, dark stain on the floor, no more than a drop. He brushed his finger through it, smearing the stain, and looked at the fingertip intently. His eyes widened.

"What, Sora?" Goofy asked, coming to stand by him.

"It's blood." Sora said, gasping. He looked back down at the floor, and a foot away saw another stain. He stood up and followed the small trail, Goofy and Donald following closely. Sora turned a corner and paused for a moment to let his companions catch up. He was slightly surprised that no heartless were appearing, and more than slightly suspicious. He picked his gaze up to look around, and saw it.

"Gawrsh..." Goofy said, slowing down to stop by Sora's side. He stared at the bloody, smeared handprint on the wall, his voice dropping low nervously. "That can't be good..."

"No it can't..." Sora said, then looked back down the hallway, his gaze narrowing and his eyes growing hard. He set off with determination, the Oathkeeper clutched tightly in his right hand. Donald and Goofy kept worried pace beside him as he turned another corner and headed down the hallway beyond it. He followed the trail down a staircase, the way growing slightly dark. Pausing for a moment, he listened intently. There, a sound. A slight shuffle in the next hallway. He held the Oathkeeper steady, looking at the others once, then moving forward. He crept to the corner of the hallway, then leaped from behind it into the adjoining hallway.

His keyblade was stuck, his first thought said. The curved edge of a battle-axe was hooked between its spokes, holding it fast. Sora blinked, then looked up from the locked keyblade and into a pair of frightened, amber eyes. Donald and Goofy, ready for an all out attack, stopped in their tracks.

"Sasha?" Sora said, dropping his arms slightly. The axe unhooked his keyblade and he put it away, staring at the girl in front of him.

"Sora, oh gods, you're here." Sasha said in a spurt. She put the axe back into its holder and sighed thankfully, leaning back against a wall. Sora looked at her, and his eyes grew wide.

"Sasha, what happened?" He exclaimed, taking a step forward. The girls arms were sliced up, and a stain on her shirt showed that it was injured as well. Worse, though, was the state of her wings. Once a shimmering black silver, they were dull and...twisted. Even as he watched, a feather shivered and detached itself, falling to the floor. One wing shivered, and a drop of blood slid along the vein of a longer feather, pausing a moment at its tip before splattering to the ground below. Sora looked back at her face, worried. There was smudged blood all over it, and a bruise beneath her right eye was tinged yellow at the edges.

"Who did this?" Sora demanded, and a quick shudder passed through Sasha. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again, looking directly at him.

"You fought him, didn't you..." Sasha started, ignoring his question. "In the entrance hall."

"Yeah, I fought Riku, but... You don't mean... he didn't..." Sora said, the last words coming out in a slight growl. Sasha looked away for a second, and Sora couldn't believe it. "But why? Why did he do this to you?"

"I have something he wants." Sasha hissed suddenly. Pain had flared up in her side, and she closed her eyes, trying to block it out.

"That doesn't mean he had to hurt you!" Sora yelled. Donald and Goofy looked at him in surprise. Their gazes flickered from the boy to girl and back, but they stayed silent, not knowing what to say. "What's so important that he has to hurt you like this?"

"The amulet..." Sasha whispered, then opened her eyes and tried to stand up straighter. "It has some power he wants... I'm not even sure what kind. All I know is that it can't be taken by force. The person who has it has to give it willingly."

"So he's tried to force you to give it to him?" Sora asked angrily. Suddenly, he stopped. "Oh, wait a second..."

He held out the Oathkeeper and focused. Green light shone as Sasha's wings untwisted, her arms and side healing. She sighed, then looked at him.

"Thanks. I'm not that good with healing spells..." She stretched her wings, but a look of pain crossed her face. Sora lifted the keyblade again, but she held up her hand. "Save it. Anyways, I think they'll be fine after a little while."

"So, Riku did this. All for some stupid amulet." Sora said, crossing his arms. Donald and Goofy walked up beside him.

"Where's the amulet now?" Donald asked. A distant look came to Sasha's eyes for a mooment, but it passed quickly and she grinned.

"Someplace safe. Someplace very very safe." She said, but Donald remained unconvinced.

"Are you sure?" Donald asked, tapping his foot. Sasha nodded tiredly.

"Very sure. Trust me, it couldn't be in a safer place." She said, her gaze turned to Sora. The boy looked lost in thought. "Sora?"

"I need to talk to him. I need to find out what's wrong." Sora said angrily.

"I'll let you in on a little something, Sora." Sasha said, standing straight and looking him in the eyes. "Riku's in no mood for talking."

"I'll make him talk to me." Sora said, determined to find out what was wrong with his friend. Sasha shook her head and sighed.

"You're going to have to do whole lot more than that, Sora." She said, her voice hard.

"What do mean?" Sora said, but he felt he knew what was coming. "I'll fight him if I have to."

"You're going to have to do more than fight, Sora. You're going to have to beat him." Sasha said, her gaze stern. "Beat him badly."

"No, he'll listen to me, finally. I know he will." Sora said, his eyes flashing. "I'll talk sense into him."

"And what do you think I tried?" Sasha snorted. She crossed her arms. "If it wasn't for the stupid amulet, I'd be dead now for being in his way. He's beyond talking, Sora. Its just a waste of time for him. He has something in mind, he has something he wants to do, and he'll do anything to do it. Anything."

"Do you really mean it?" Sora said, his voice shaking. "There's nothing I can do?"

"Beat him, Sora. Beat him so bad that he has no choice _but_ to hear you. That's the only way you can do it." Sasha said, her eyes turning sad. "That's the only way I can think of. And I've been thinking on it for a while now."

"There has to be some other way..." Sora said, shaking his head angrily. Sasha snapped suddenly, and stalked up to him, grabbing his shoulders. She stared him in the eyes, her look harsh with reality.

"Don't show him mercy, Sora, because he sure as hell won't show you any!" She growled. Her hands were shaking where they held their grip on Sora. His blue eyes widened at the ferocity in hers. He wanted to say something, but found himself to shocked to form words. She let go finally, backing off slightly. Her eyes still glowed with the anger. "Start hunting him, Sora... before he starts hunting you."

She shuddered, and shaking her head brushed past the three quickly. She stopped at the corner of the hallway to look back. Sora met her eyes, saw the anger, but more, saw the fear and pain. His eyes hardened, and he nodded to her. She was right, he saw. If things had gotten this bad... something drastic had to be done. Before they all ended up the same way.

Sasha entered the room she was using as a hideout, not bothering to close the door behind her. It was situated at the end of an almost completely collapsed corridor, and only the smallest of heartless found anything of interest enough to bring them to the doorway. Even the smallest, though, would lose interest before heading into the room. It was deserted, had been for ages, and probably still was. Blinded by their boredom, they retreated to more exciting haunts and ignored the lifebeat that occasionally gathered there.

Sasha stopped in the middle of the room, sighing. Looking around, she tried to decide what to do. She'd given Sora all the information she dared, she could only hope now that he did the right thing with it. She smiled slightly. She was being unfair, Sora was more than capable of doing what was right. She knew his fighting skills had progressed, and that he probably stood a more than a chance against Riku. No, against what he had become. Her eyes grew shadowed, but her thoughts were interrupted by a sound. Creak of hinges, wood hissed softly over stone. She froze, turning slowly to look behind her. The door swung slowly and clicked shut. A stillness overtook the room, and all she could hear was the beating of her heart. She looked cautiously to the sides, her eyes wide. Stupid, she tought. Its just a draft. Having spent quite some time in the room, she'd been woken more than once by the sudden blast of cold air. She blamed paranoia and turned back around.

"Boo."

Eyes widened, and she jumped back, her hand reaching for the battleaxe. A purple fireball shot the weapon from her hand, and she stepped back, wincing and holding her injured hand. Tendrils of shadow shot up from the ground, but she jumped to the side, dodging them.

"You could make this a lot easier on yourself." Riku's voice reached her from behind, sounding strange, two-toned almost. His hands suddenly gripped her wings at the elbow joints, clutching hard. She growled, focusing, and lightning flashed across feathers. Riku gasped with pain, releasing her wings, but before she could move he kicked her in the back and sent her sprawling onto the floor.

She twisted as she pushed up off the ground, facing him in a low crouch. Her axe lay by the opposite wall, she noticed, but then turned her gaze quickly to Riku. He glared at her, one hand rubbing the other, then grinned suddenly. Dark light flashed around his hands, and he shook them out, pleased. His grin turned devilish as he looked back at her. He took a few, slow steps towards her, and she backed off the same amount, watching him warily.

"Come on, Sasha, do you really want to go through that again?" Riku asked, his two-toned voice dangerous. She glared at him, ready to bolt. "Oh, and don't bother going for the door. It won't open."

Sasha glanced to the side quickly. The door was covered in darkness, and three glowing pairs of eyes stared out at her from it. Her moment's hesitation cost her, and Riku dashed forward. She tried to dodge, but he spun around her, grabbing her wings again. Angry, she plunged her elbow back and caught him under the ribcage. Though he gasped, he managed to keep his hold on her wings. She tried to elbow him again, but sudden, sharp pain stopped her.

Hearing her gasp, Riku grinned even more, twisting her wings again. He pulled them around each other and pulled out sideways, relishing in the sound of breaking bones. He could feel the muscles convulsing in his hands as tendons snapped away from joints and ligaments loosed their holds. Sasha cried out, unbidden tears pooling in her eyes. She clenched her teeth and pushed back hard, knocking Riku straight in the sternum, knocking the wind out of him and causing him to loose his hold on her wings. She dipped to a crouch and sprang forward, spinning around to face him. Riku steadied himself, his eyes narrowing, his grin growing.

"Why do you keep fighting?" He said, crossing his arms. "You know you can't win."

"I won't let you get it. I don't know why you want it, but I'd rather die than let you get it." Sasha hissed. Riku's face grew serious suddenly, his eyes burning.

"Don't wish too hard." He shot forward and kneed her in the stomach. She stumbled back and he kicked out, hitting her in the stomach again and sending her crashing into the wall. She slid to the ground, trying desperately to get back on her feet. Her vision was getting slightly blurry, and she could feel a trickle of blood start its way from the corner of her mouth down her chin.

"I'm getting a little tired of this," Riku said, his voice bored. He walked up to her with a bored expression, and summoned the dark keyblade . Reaching out with it, he put its tip under her chin and turned her face up towards him. "Give me the amulet."

"No." She said, and spat at him. He glared at her, wiping the spit off his shirt, then stopped, noticing that the amulet was no longer around her neck. He growled and crouched down, looking at her fiercely.

"Where is it?" He demanded, and she laughed, pushing the keyblade away..

"Wouldn't you like to know?" She said, trying to push herself up. Angry, Riku placed the tip of the keyblade to her chest, and she froze. "No... don't..."

"Where is it?" He hissed, digging the tip of the keyblade into her chest, right over her heart. The sharp point cut through the material of her shirt easily and pressed into her skin.She whimpered but shook her head. "Tell me!"

"No! You're not getting it..." She said, wincing as the keyblade's tip dug deeper. Riku glared at her, fully intent on slowly driving the point into her heart. The keyblade dug deeper still, and he could see a trickle of blood staining her shirt. He grinned maliciously, twisting the keyblade slightly and watching with delight as she whimpered, writhing in pain. Her hands grasped the keyblade, though she knew it was useless. Already she could feel her power becoming useless, pliant, _manipulable_. The darkness rippled, suddenly, and Riku paused, looking to the side.

"What?!" He said to the air, eyes widening. He growled, looking back at Sasha, then removed the keyblade suddenly, leaving a trail of blood drops. She released a breath and looked up at him warily, her hands going to her chest..

"I'll deal with you later." He said, then put out a hand. The air around her shimmered darkly, then everything faded as the darkness engulfed her.

The darkness of horror faded from around her, leaving her in a darkness that she found to be much more pleasant. She groaned as she lay there, eyes half-lidded.

"Why did he send me here?" She muttered. The hum from the Masamune rose suddenly, and she pushed herself up slowly. Carefully, she detached the belt that held the hilt to her back and removed it, laying it on her knees. Pausing only slightly, she grasped the sword hilt tightly and pulled. The sword slid out quickly, eagerly, with a light, delighted hiss of metal on material. The naked blade gleamed slightly in Limbo's darkness, and she shuddered momentarily, a strange feeling coming over her. She placed the blade gently to the side and lifted up the hilt. Tilting it slightly, the amulet slid out from where she had hidden it. The perfect hiding spot. No one could remove that sword. No one...

She picked up the amulet, then paused, glancing over at the Masamune. Picking the sword up, she positioned it and slid it back into its hilt, ignoring the angry hiss it emitted. Putting the sword to the side, she looked at the amulet for a moment. With a sigh she placed it around her neck. The center glowed brighter, then flashed, and she felt a cooling feeling pass through her. Her wings untwisted and untangled, bones straightening. Her numerous bruises and cuts faded away, as did the hole in her chest, though it still stung slightly. She sighed, looking down at the amulet.

"I wonder what else it does..." She said to herself, then shrugged. Her eyes were closing, and she leaned over, pillowing her head with her arms. Her breathing grew even, and she fell asleep with darkness surrounding her.

* * *

E/N: (moment of silence) 

Sephy: (eating marshmallows) Um... I don't know why that camera's pointed at me.

Anyways, there it is. And, can you believe it, I almost forgot. FORGOT. There will be one more chapter, and then the epilogue. ONE MORE CHAPTEREPILOGUE AND THIS IS OVER!

These Wings That Ache will be done! OO I can't believe it.... geesh... only took me about two years, eh?

So yeah, the sequels will be done. And stuff. oh fun fun fun...

Note: Next chapter will be slightly strange, since it still deals with Sasha, but there's the whole Riku/Ansem/Sora fight thing and the End of the World, and since Limbo has some strange things going on, and since there seem to be wierd things going on with Sasha, she's going to sleep through all of it. So it'll be like a dream, where she sees what happens, but she doesn't. Strange..

Thanks to:

All the Reviewers I've ever had!

Magic Blue Fire Kitsune: Cliffy is good. Oh so good. more cookies and ice cream too....

Venz0r: Its an insane fic but yes, its fun. There's some chapters I'd rather burn, but some I can't even believe I wrote. Thank you!

Doomboy2000: OO Wow. I was sitting at my computer, and about every half hour I got a reviewer alert in my inbox. You amazed me, really. I was getting giddy. Thank you very much, I can't believe you actually took time out of reading to review every few chapters. Made me feel special... Evil Sephy influences (does wiggly fingers) is right on. I love the Masamune. (lots of love and many many cookies)

Sarah: You are definitely going to be my beta read when I start the sequels. I would've sent you this before I posted, but I forgot and now I'm all giddy. But you'll still be the first one I send the link to. Thanks for everything! (many 3 's)

Thank you everyone! And when this is over, make sure to keep an eye out for the mini-sequels and the main sequel. I hope I won't dissapoint you...

Laters,

Zo


	20. Limbo: The Dream

Disclaimer: KH is not mine, no matter how much I beg and whine.

A/N: Wheeee... the next chapter is here. Now, read, this is the last 'true' chapter of These Wings that Ache. The next one is the Epilogue, and then you all have to sit on the edge of your seats waiting for the sequel/s. :) lol...

A big huge thank you goes out to Sarah for beta-reading and editing this chapter. I really should pay you for this.

Enjoy everyone...

* * *

Chapter 18

The horizon gleamed red around her, the ground dusted with a luminescent white powder. Sounds of battle surrounded her on all sides, but turning she could see nothing. The dust glowed softly under a blood red sky, and all four horizons shone as if four suns readied to cross the sky.

She looked up at the empty sky, wondering where she was and how she had gotten there. The sounds of battle grew suddenly, then faded into a whisper. She was starting to hear words, but they were too muffled to understand. There was a sense of urgency in some, and a sweet hostility in the others, feelings she could sense even though the words eluded her.

She shivered and put her arms around herself. The air was warm, but the strangeness of this new place chilled her. The glowing ground, the flat horizons, everything was strange and new, but the feel of the place was old. She glanced around suspiciously, then started walking towards the horizon in front of her. Nothing changed, and, in fact, it seemed as if she hadn't moved at all. She stopped, looking around again. The sounds of a distant battle still surrounded her, growing and fading, the voices accompanying them growing and softening.

A gust of wind blasted at her from behind, and she tucked her wings around her to keep them from flailing about. With quite some difficulty, she managed to turn around and look behind her. A darkness was rising, but not out of the horizon. It was much closer than that, and darker than any nightfall. Screeches and scratches began to echo from it, and the wind blew fiercely, a dank smell accompanying it, the stench of dried flowers and caskets whipping around her in a frenzy. The gusting wind was pushing her back, and she had to take a few steps to steady herself. The chittering and screeching rose and fell, then rose again, surrounding her. Quite suddenly a voice broke through above the screeches, and though the words were lost in the gusting wind, she heard enough to recognize it. Two toned and dangerous, its meaning couldn't be lost on this dark wind. She dropped into a crouch in surprise, wrapping her arms around herself as the wind whipped past her. The darkness was growing across the ground towards her, she realized, and a sudden fear rose up in her. She dug her fingers into the ground, pulling herself away from the oncoming black stain. It didn't seem to be fast enough, she realized in fright, and thin tendrils of shadow were reaching out towards her. The tendrils thickened as they neared her, growing claws and reaching off the ground to claw at the air. She yelped as a clawed hand swung out, raking across her leg, and in a panic forgot about the raging wind and flapped open her wings. The sudden burst of wind into her outspread wings sent her tumbling head over heels, scraping and skidding across the ground. She finally managed to pull her wings in, but still rolled over the ground. Every time she touched against it, the glowing white powder that covered it lifted, leaving a trail of haze in her wake, a softly throbbing luminescence that shifted softly in the raging wind.

Throwing out her arms, she tried to grab hold of something, anything, to slow her down. The powder rose, twisting into myriad shapes as the wind tore through it. Light flashed from opposite the darkness, suddenly, and the wind, having pushed her over into the light's territory, suddenly found itself no longer able to torment her. She pulled herself hastily onto her knees. The light from behind her was growing, pulsing, and spreading out to meet with the spreading black stain. Sounds began to rise from it, the lilting light notes of string quartets and rippling glass harmonicas. The light met the dark, and suddenly the screeches rose in agonizing tones. Crashes of cymbal-like thunder erupted and clashed with the darkness's screeches. A voice broke out from the light, tone without words, and she whipped around to look into the source of light, almost expecting to see a figure standing there. He sounded so close, she thought, even though she couldn't understand what was being said. Dark and light clashed again, sending sparks of light glistening through the softly rising clouds of glowing powder.

Two voices were speaking now, overlapping, growing and fading, but there all the same. She stood now, a little uncertainly, but no wind accosted her on this side of the fault. She could still see the clawed hands straining to reach into the light, pulling back when the light struck at it. She winced at the flashes that came from the battle, but stood up, holding an arm up to block as much of the light as she could. Brightness surrounded her on this side, and she took some comfort in the fact that she was safe, at least for a while. Another flash came from the clash, then another, and suddenly her entire vision was white, and she was caught in the center of a whirling wind. Closing her eyes and still seeing white, she pulled her wings in close, feeling herself lose balance slowly. The world seemed to tilt, to tip, and she spread her wings out again, flapping agitatedly, twisting as she felt wind currents swirl unnaturally around her. She seemed suspended on nothing, not even air, the wind seemed much to wild to support her. Vertigo clawed at her and made her head spin, and she flapped her wings harder, attempting to realign herself to some magnetic center that didn't seem to exist.

She blinked, and opening her eyes found herself staring into a clear blue sky. Ground was hard beneath her back, and at the edges of her vision she saw the feathery tops of tall grass, swaying slightly. It was somewhat comfortable, lying in an unknown field, and more than a little disorienting. Where had the softly glowing ground gone, the blood red sky, the shining horizons? Clouds drifted across her line of view, lazy cotton balls moving sluggishly on stale currents.

A bird's cry grabbed her attention, the rough, sharp call of a falcon. She found its shape, wheeling in the air above her, and frowned. Its form was entirely falcon like, finger-like edge feathers spreading to catch currents, wedge-shaped tail widening and thinning, twisting to steer it delicately along its course. But something was wrong, something didn't match. The bird turned, heading to fly over a hill, and in turning passed through sunlight that illuminated it, and she now saw clearly what had disquieted her. Its body was greyish brown, with its tail ending in darker bands, but its wings, its wings made her sit up in surprise. Its right wing was black, a sharp-edged shape with smaller sharp edges where the finger-feathers were. It barely glistened in the sun, merely moved as if it were a shadow hewn out of the sky. Its left wing was, in contrast, almost pure white. Its edges were hazy, as if they were bordered with a delicate fringe, or as if it were not entirely formed yet. Faint lines of pale grey banded the feathers, but were only apparent when the bird turned a certain way into the light.

The bird screeched again, a high sound that pierced into her so viciously that she gasped, clasping her hands over her ears. The grass around her swirled in an unseen wind, but she couldn't feel what moved it. She stood up, peering up with squinted eyes to track the bird's flight. Its wheeling and turning was becoming erratic, as if it were agitated by something. It flapped its wings hard, and for less than a moment its course took it across the face of the sun. She froze, unbelieving, but couldn't doubt what she saw. The white-grey wing, fuzzy and hazy, _disappeared_. It vanished entirely as the bird passed the sun. And now the elegant shape was flailing in distress, one dark wing beating viciously into the air as it spun and twisted. She started to run, spreading her wings to take off even though she knew she couldn't make it. The bird was falling too fast, and too far away for her to do anything. Its form plummeted to the ground, spinning haphazardly as it desperately tried to straighten itself with one wing. Even though she ran as hard as she could, she only made it to the foot of the hill as the small, dark shape vanished behind it.

She jumped and flapped, carrying herself over the hill and landing on the other side. Her first concern was for the bird, and her eyes were focused on the ground in front of her. A few wayward black feathers blew past her, and she caught one as it flickered in front of her eyes. There, in the distance, stood a large structure. No, not a structure, a city. It gleamed in the sun like she'd never seen anything gleam before. It must have been made of metal on metal, shined to perfection and reflected the sun's rays from all angles. The hand holding the feather lowered as she stared at the city in awe. A large wall ran around it, and a gigantic building rose straight out of its center. She felt she wanted to enter the city, to see it, see the people in it and the way it worked. But suddenly clouds were approaching in the sky, fast and casting deep shadows. The sun raced away from her as if in fear, hiding below the horizon. And instead of an onyx feather she now held the ebony handle of the Masamune.

She jerked in surprise on seeing the sword, seeing the naked blade gleaming in the darkness. And it was true darkness, now. She turned to look where the city had been, but nothing shone in the distance. No moon hung above her to light the way. She gripped the Masamune's hilt tightly, nervously, and began to turn to look around her. Something shifted in the darkness, and slowly a light faded into view, as if someone were taking layers of gauze off her eyes until it showed. A small figure sat in the circle of dim light, swathed entirely in grey cloth. Its hands moved in front of it, and she stepped forward slowly to see what it was doing.

A paper lay in front of the figure, and small hands were dragging stumps of crayons over it to give shape to a form that was all too familiar. Silver hair, turquoise eyes, and an outfit of purple and black and red, with a matching sharp-pointed keyblade at its side. The small figure in grey was gently dragging a light blue crayon to outline the figure, extending it like an aura. Orange had been used to draw binding ropes on the figures arms and legs. The ropes reached out towards the edges of the paper, as if they didn't come from the drawing but from an outside source.

The figure stopped coloring, and, as if for the first time noticing that she stood there, tilted its head towards her. Just as the grey cloth was about fall away, to show the figure's face, a piercing cry burst out from around them. It seemed as if the shadows themselves screamed in the darkness, and the figure stiffened. Slowly, so slowly she didn't notice at first, the figure began to fade away. Its edges became hazy, its colors muted, and suddenly it just _wasn't_ there anymore. She stood there, looking down on the strange picture. The figure had managed to add one more color to the drawing. Red covered most of it, pushed in so hard that the crayon had crumbled and left tiny pieces of wax on the paper. She crouched down, and reached out a hand to touch a finger to the picture. Tracing her finger along the red, she pulled back suddenly. It was strangely warm, and, she noticed with a start, the red had stained her finger. Even as she watched, the red that stained her finger thickened, began to grow in volume. Slowly, a trickle of it ran down the edge of her finger and a single drop, no more, tipped off and fell to the paper below.

The sudden contact caused the paper to erupt into flames. She threw herself back instinctively, eyes widened in surprise. Hastily, she stood up and tried to stomp the fire out, but soon it became apparent that the picture was beyond saving. Little curled slivers of blackened paper rolled out from beneath her boots, spreading in all directions out from her. She took a step back, sadly almost, and didn't notice that there was fire around her until she nearly walked into it.

With a cry, she whipped around to face the fire. It roared in front of her, and on all sides. Turning back, she found it roaring behind her too. She brandished the Masamune, holding it in both hands, but her arms trembled, and her breathing became heavy in air that was rapidly being depleted of oxygen. Sweat formed on her forehead, but she couldn't feel it. Heat and loss of oxygen was making her go numb and go lightheaded. Her vision blurred as she faced the flames, and suddenly it was growing dark around her, and the roars of the fire were falling on deaf ears.

The sounds of bells awoke her, and she pushed herself off the ground fearfully. There was no light around her, but there didn't seem to be any dark either. She grimaced, narrowing her eyes as she peered into the air around her. Nothing was being made apparent, and she could feel the shift of forms out there, somewhere. The sound of bells grew louder, and suddenly was joined by the sound of steel on steel. War cries and the clashes of weapons grew in the air around her, and the sound of bells faded as the battle sounds grew. She wheeled around desperately, attempting to find just what was causing these sounds to come.

White light blinded her suddenly, coming from all around and hitting her so hard she nearly lost her balance. In the center, though, darkness began to grow. The white light flickered as tendrils of dark shot through it, then burst around her covering her in the dark of starless nights. She stumbled back, looking into the dark but not seeing, until a movement at her feet caught her attention. She glanced down, squinting, not really seeing what she saw. Her shadow, or her reflection, lay on the ground beneath and in front of her. Black, with black wings stretching out slight, just so, just like she had them right now, and a long blade that reached to the ground held in one hand. Her skin prickled, suddenly, and she gripped the sword hilt tighter as her breath caught. Amber eyes watched her from out of that black shadow's face. She struggled to scream, to cry, to do something, but her body wasn't responding, and her eyes were fixed on the gleaming gold of the shape on the ground before her. Her muscles quivered in her unmoving form, and silently she screamed at herself to move, move. Suddenly, she was moving, crashing about. Suddenly, the dark and the figure had disappeared and seemed no more.

She flailed about for a moment before calming down, before realizing the dark around her was lit with a strange light that was extremely familiar. Extremely comfortable, and filled with all manner of unneeded appliances, furniture, and plants. But even here something reached her, and she glanced up sharply, warily, as sounds of a distant battle grew nearer and nearer. Screams of the darkness, crashes of weapons and the sounds of magic exploding all around, all of it streaked past her in the darkness of Limbo. The sounds reached crescendo and she spun as they merged around her, encasing her in noise of steel on steel, flesh being beat and magic being thrown with electrical sizzles. There was one last magnificent explosion of magic sound and sounds of weapons, and a deadly silence filled Limbo. Foreboding silence. A silence that causes the dead in their graves to stand up and find a different spot to rest. She stood still, though she shook with fear, and so saw the magnificent spectacle that began unfolding through eyes that, though not calm or serene, were at least stationary.

A slight wavering began in one section of the area of Limbo she was in. It twisted and twirled, grew and shrunk, and suddenly began sucking everything around it into its twisted and whirling maelstrom center. Wind picked up as the vortex grew, whipping and pulling on everything that stood near it. There was a crack, and another vortex grew up, pulling a chest of drawers into its center and dismantling it with a series of loud crunches. Soon another showed up, and another, and she found herself caught between the pull of several vortices, pulled one way and another, and still a third way, her wings and hair pulled in all directions, her eyes tearing as the wind tore at her. She opened her mouth to scream but her air was stolen. She braced her legs to jump, leap, fly, but was beaten and battered by screaming winds.

The vortices grew, screams of dying furniture and appliances accompanying them, and slowly cracks appeared around her. Light faded, and Limbo became, regrettably, unstoppably, irreversibly, dark.

* * *

Endnotes: And there is the last 'true' chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. The epilogue was written before chapter 4, so after a few fix-ups I'll be able to put it up. Really really soon after this chapter. But not too soon.

Thanks to:

All the reviewers that have ever reviewed this story!

Sugar-high Strawberry: Marshmallows! Lets make s'mores:)

Doomboy2000: There'll be, like, tons of evil-Masamune stuff to come in the sequel thingy, so it should be interesting...

Magic Blue Fire Kitsune: Thanks, once again, for reminding me how the Keyblades are named (b/c i'm an idiot... lol)

Laters everybody,

Zoshi


	21. Epilogue

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is not mine. I just toy around with the characters.

A/N: Well, kiddies, this story is officially over. It took a damn long time, and I almost didn't want to upload this, i didn't want it to be 'official'. And let me apologize for the _excessive_ lateness of this, I had to switch colleges and that was a pain, but I'm in happy-land now, so that's all right.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy this. I'm planning on still continuing onto sequels, but we'll see, considering I need to get working on my own stories. Otherwise, my characters might kill me in my sleep. See if they don't!

Enjoy!

* * *

Epilogue

Riko groaned, twisting a little on the ground. Gritty sand rubbed painfully agains the exposed skin of his arms, and he grimaced at the slight pain. The world around him seemed to be tilting, but slower now than a few moments earlier. Actually, he could almost feel it starting to settle, to shudder to a rolling stop. He blinked, the ground a hazy, blurring image in front of his eyes, then shook his head. Bracing his arms, he lifted himself up off the sand and stood unsteadily, blinking in a bright light that came from nowhere and everywhere, all at once.

Grimacing again, he spit a mouthfull of sand out onto the ground, then looked around, shading his eyes with one hand. Everywhere he looked he could see sand, fading into every direction, meeting an artificially blue-white expanse of sky on either side of him. He turned slowly, trying to see what lay behind him, and a sound came rolling in. It was something like a quiet rustle, a bubbling, a deep roar that one didn't so much hear as feel. He recognized it, recognized the soft sigh of the retreating ocean waves, the resonating undertone of the roar of the oncoming ones. The sound was hollow, as if it were only half real, half there, but the waves sounded close. Close and hollow, everywhere around him and nowhere.

He glanced back down at the sand where he had found himself, and noticed another imprint not far off. Smaller imprints, footprints, led away from it in a staggering sort of bee-line. Squinting uncertainly into the distance, and taking one last look around him, Riku started off following the footprints.

It seemed a while had passed since he started, and more than once he had turned back to find that the spot he had started from could no longer be seen. Moments more passed, and suddenly a shape appeared, shimmering in a haze, in front of him. A black shape, embedded partially in the sand, pieces of it sticking out in odd angles. Riku frowned as he headed towards it, realizin the footprints he followed led directly to it. It wasn't until he was a few steps away that he noticed the copper stain around it on the sand, and even then he didn't really know what it was. It wasn't until he actually reached it, stood over it and saw the splatter of copper in the sand, the half-hidden black feathers dotting the sand around him. His eyes widened as his breath caught. It didn't make sense, it didn't. He didn't want to be seeing this.

A wind picked up, flowing around him and making feathers dance drunkenly around on the sand. His eyes, following a few rivulets of shifting sand, noticed more footsteps leading away from where he stood, leading towards a place only a little farther ahead of him. He didn't move, didn't follow those imprints, but the sound of waves suddenly grew louder, no, more _real_, as his eyes followed the footprints, and the light softened until he no longer had to squint to see what was in front of him.

A hill rose slightly, just twenty feet ahead of him, and beyond it he could see the green-blue of the ocean, flickering white here and there as another wave made its way to shore. A figure stood on that hill, facing the ocean and the waves. Long hair fluttering lightly, darkly in the wind, she had her one remaining wing bent forward slightly so her right hand could come to rest upon it.

"Sasha?" Riku spoke softly, almost fearfully.

There was a momentary pause, and then she turned, slowly, to face him. She looked at him, but he had the strange impression that she still looked out at the waves.

"Riku," She began, but he couldn't be sure her lips moved at all, and although her eyes flashed, lightly, brightly, darkly, he couldn't be sure they saw him. "Life... it's not about hate or... or love... it's... it's about death."

She turned back to the waves, or maybe, just maybe, she hadn't been looking at him at all, maybe she'd always been looking at the waves. But her words hung in the air between them, refusing to settle, refusing to fade in the wind, refusing to let him forget them. The ocean grew, suddenly, then recoiled, a quiet hiss of water leaving sand.

Her arms shot out, suddenly, stretching them out to the sky as if she meant to catch it and drag it down to her. Her one wing stretched out, feathers flickering in the wind, giving the odd impression of balance without balance, of asymmetrical symmetry. She strained even more, wing flaring, and it came.

The wave drew dark, large, hovering over her outstretched arms like a coiled serpent. It flickered and held, a dark, deep roar of longing filling its watery expanses. And she laughed, a sound like silver bells, and laughed again, her voice echoing against the dark wall in front of her.

"That's all it ever was."

And it fell.

The wave, like rolling velvet, enveloped her, pulling her in like a mother embracing a long lost child. She disappeared under its watchful weight, and Riku found himself running forward, running to what, he didn't know. But suddenly the wave, the darkness, was rushing towards him, seeking him out, sending wave after wave of velvet after him along the sand. And he backed away, slowly first, then faster, fearful of its cold touch, fearful of getting lost in its depths once more.

It nearly had him, suddenly, nearly touch the soles of his shoes, and then pulled away. With hissing, with moaning and sounds of boulders on boulders, it receded further and further. Another wild thought, and he was rushing after it, rushing and running to catch it, too late.

It was gone.

He was left with nothing; nothing but a bleeding, dismembered wing and an island of sand, lost adrift a sea no boat could ever sail.

He turned back around, turned to that heap of broken bones and feathers, and took it up. Smoothing the feathers as best he could, he could feel the wind around him picking up. Holding the wing, tighter, tighter until he could feel the unbroken bones shift in his grasp, he sank into the sand. Tears wouldn't come, no matter how bitter, and he closed his eyes, and in the resounding silence woke, and realized it was all a dream.

Awake, awake now, Riku found himself in an unfamiliar land, a bumpy, hilly world that was filled with a suspiciously familar lighted darkness. He shook his head to clear it, reaching up to brush back his hair. Stopped.

_It was all a dream._

Looking down, numbly, he wiped the trails of red off his pants, peeling bloody, broken feathers off his chest.

_All a dream._

His gaze moved to the ground, littered with scattered sand and half-dry, curling feathers.

_But, it was all a dream, wasn't it?_

He looked to the sky, to the dark around him.

_It was a dream!_

He began to shake.

_Tell me!_

But no answer came

* * *

Endnotes:

Thank you to all the reviewers I have ever had!

In no specific order:

Thank you very much to Ari Powwel, who had been the first reviewer of this story and whose own stories were an inspiration to me. (I wish I could write that well! And with that much feeling! )

Thank you to Magic Blue Fire Kitsune, who has been an endless supply of good feeling for me, whenever I needed to be cheered up, all I had to do was read one of your reviews and I felt better.

Thank you to Doomboy2000, who read through the entire story in one night, and probably one sitting. There I was, sitting for a few hours, and every few minutes I'd get a review from him. Thank you, it made me feel special that someone would want to read my story all at once like that.

Thank you very much to Sugarhigh Strawberry, who had been another energy-support and good-feeling giver, and whose reviews always made me feel better.

And thank you to Slinkster Sunshine, my second-ever reviewer, who was also a great inspiration.

I hope you all enjoyed reading this story, and that you enjoyed this Epilogue too.

Signing out,

Zoshi


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